In This Section:
Renaissance scientist - Kent Holsinger, ecology & evolutionary biology
Pioneering better access to care - Sarita Arteaga, dental medicine

Kent Holsinger's research opens new paths for others to follow

When he learned that he would receive the UConn Alumni Association’s 2007 Award for Excellence in Science Research, Kent Holsinger says he was appreciative of what such recognition signifies to the University community.

“It’s the fact that the Alumni Association recognizes that research and scholarship are an inextricable part of how a great university functions,” says Holsinger, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Photo by Lanny Nagler

“It also recognizes that along with service and teaching, all three are an important part of what makes a world- class university.”

Holsinger has been described as a“renaissance scientist” by his peers, a world-class researcher who opens new paths for others to explore by seeing fresh ways to examine scientific questions, illustrated by the diversity of his publications, his sole authorship of many papers and his status as lead researcher in more than half of his collaborative studies.

One of the hallmarks of Holsinger’s approach to research is his passion for statistics, specifically his understanding of statistical theory and studying biological questions by using Bayesian statistical methods, which combine historical knowledge with current data to forecast future trends.

This has helped him to address questions in his area of expertise, which is in the evolution of plants and plant population genetics, the study of processes that affect how genes evolve and how the frequency of different gene types changes plants over time.

Currently he is studying a small group of flowering plants within the genus Protea in South Africa, a genus that has evolved to into about 400 related species across the nation’s Cape region.

His research focuses on a tightly knit group of six species.

“We’re trying to determine whether the speciation happened just because they were isolated on different mountain tops or because the environments were so different that they adapted to those environments,” he says, noting that the same family of plants can be found in South America and Australia, two continents that were originally joined with Africa before the breakup of land masses as part of Earth’s evolution.

Another factor in Holsinger’s productive research career is his exceptional way of viewing scientific questions.

He sees different aspects of situations by viewing the abstract principles that contribute to a problem rather than only the concrete manifestation of the situation.

“Part of it might be that I’m a liberal arts guy,” he says.

“I went to a small liberal arts college in Idaho and had a double major in biology and chemistry, with a minor in philosophy. It may be a reflection of the fact that I do look at the world differently.”

After completing his doctoral degree in biological sciences at Stanford University, Holsinger arrived at UConn in 1986, where he has taught classes, conducted research and guided graduate students, one of the most satisfying parts of his work.

“One of the things that is really fun about being at a university is when I’m working with graduate students, at some point in their career they realize they know more than I do about something,” Holsinger says with a smile.

“When you see them with that light, that’s very satisfying. When they finish their studies, if students don’t know more than I do about some piece of their dissertation, there would be a problem because they should be the world expert on what they’ve studied.”

— Kenneth Best

Arteaga leads Hispanic Dental Association

Photo by Al Ferreira

Sarita Arteaga ’90 D.M.D. relishes her role as president of the Hispanic Dental Association (HDA), a group of 2,500 that includes dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants and 31 student chapters.

“I’m helping build the collaborations and partnerships that support our mission to improve oral health for the Hispanic community,” says Arteaga, assistant clinical professor in the department of oral rehabilitation, biomaterials and skeletal development at the UConn Health Center.

“I can see how much we are growing HDA, and I feel my work will affect how we move forward.”

There are 150,000 dentists in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with Hispanics and African-Americans making up less than 10 percent of the practicing dentists in the nation.

HDA, which was established 20 years ago, focuses on improving access to care and recruiting more Hispanics into dentistry.

“We know people are more likely to go to a provider with which they feel comfortable,” Arteaga says, noting that other roadblocks facing the Hispanic community include lack of access to treatment because of transportation problems, dentists’ reluctance to accept Medicaid, and language and cultural issues such as lack of knowledge about the importance of daily dental care.

The association also is preparing training materials for its members who want to sponsor cultural awareness classes or other programs to help increase access for Hispanics seeking care.

Elected HDA president last July, Arteaga meets regularly with other dentists, legislators and government officials to discuss important oral health care issues and suggest strategies for improving services to the Hispanic community.

Arteaga’s interest in dentistry was sparked by helping her mother — a single parent raising two daughters in New York City’s South Bronx while working as a dental assistant — to study for classes that led to a 30-year career as a dental hygienist.

After graduating from New York University with a bachelor’s degree in biology, Arteaga earned a D.M.D. at UConn’s School of Dental Medicine and did a general practice residency at Bronx Municipal/Albert Einstein Hospitals.

Returning to Connecticut in the early 1990s, she worked as an associate in several private dental practices and began teaching operative dentistry and prosthodontics at UConn in 1995.

Even with her organizational leadership and teaching responsibilities, Arteaga works closely with dental students.

She brings UConn students to assist with oral health screenings in the community and serves as advisor to the HDA’s student chapter in the UConn School of Dental Medicine, a role she plans to continue when her term as HDA president concludes.

“We want students to understand the need for our mission before they go out into the community and start providing treatment,” she says.

— Kristina Goodnough