|  Welcome
                                                  New Faculty Members This summer
                                              we welcomed four new
                                              full-time faculty members
                                              to LSUSD. Drs. Brian
                                              Christensen and Peter Park
                                              have joined the Department
                                              of Oral and Maxillofacial
                                              Surgery and Drs. Edward
                                              Starr and Bryan Lara are
                                              new to Comprehensive
                                              Dentistry. Brian
                                                Christensen, DDS, MD,
                                              assistant professor,
                                              received his DDS from the
                                              University of Washington
                                              in Seattle. In 2013 he
                                              entered the LSUHSC oral
                                              and maxillofacial surgery
                                              residency. During his
                                              residency he also
                                              completed the LSUHSC
                                              general surgery
                                              internship. While a
                                              resident, he was a member
                                              of several teams that
                                              received grants to study
                                              maxillomandibular
                                              reconstruction and
                                              fracture repair. Dr.
                                              Christensen is a peer
                                              reviewer for the Journal
                                                of Oral and
                                                Maxillofacial Surgery.
                                              Throughout his education,
                                              he received numerous
                                              scholarships and awards,
                                              including the Quintessence
                                              Award for Research
                                              Achievement, and the AAOMS
                                              Resident Research Award. 
                                              
                                                
                                                  |  |  
                                                  | Brian
                                                      Christensen, DDS,
                                                      MD |    E.
                                                Peter Park, DMD, MD,
                                              assistant professor,
                                              received his dental degree
                                              from the University of
                                              British Columbia.
                                              Following completion of
                                              the LSUHSC oral and
                                              maxillofacial residency in
                                              2017, he became a fellow
                                              in head and neck
                                              microvascular surgery at
                                              the University of Alabama
                                              at Birmingham. While in
                                              dental school, he
                                              co-founded a student-run
                                              community dental clinic,
                                              for which he received the
                                              Robert W. Scott Memorial
                                              Award for outstanding
                                              contribution to the dental
                                              student body. Among his
                                              other awards was LSUHSC
                                              Intern of the Year in OMFS
                                              in 2012. His research
                                              interests include
                                              malignant transformation
                                              of oral dysplasia and the
                                              use of computer modeling
                                              to reconstruct the
                                              mandible and dentition
                                              after tumor resection.   Edward
                                                Starr, DDS,
                                              assistant professor,
                                              serves as clinical
                                              director of the General
                                              Dentistry Residency
                                              program at University
                                              Medical Center. A 2018
                                              LSUSD graduate, he
                                              recently completed a
                                              certificate in hospital
                                              dentistry at Advocate
                                              Illinois Masonic Medical
                                              Center in Chicago. While a
                                              dental student, he lead
                                              various community outreach
                                              programs, most notably
                                              bringing increased dental
                                              care to the formerly
                                              incarcerated community.   Bryan
                                                Lara, DDS,
                                              assistant professor, is a
                                              maxillofacial
                                              prosthodontist. He
                                              completed his dental
                                              degree in Costa Rica.
                                              After finishing his
                                              residency in
                                              prosthodontics at The
                                              Dental College of Georgia,
                                              he completed a fellowship
                                              in maxillofacial
                                              prosthetics and oncologic
                                              dentistry at MD Anderson
                                              Cancer Center. He
                                              currently divides his time
                                              between the departments of
                                              comprehensive dentistry
                                              and prosthodontics.   |