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Professor Tore Bjørnland at Harvard School of Dental Medicine Report from a research visit fall 2009   Professor Tore Bjørnland received funding from The Norwegian Fulbright Alumni Fund to conduct research at Harvard University School of Dental Medicine this fall. Here is the report he submitted about his trip.

From left: Professor Tore Bjørnland, Dr. Bernhard Friedland, and Dean Bruce Donoff.

First of all, I am grateful to ”Fulbrightstipendiatenes forskningsfond” for the stipend I received in 2009 in order to continue my research collaboration with Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM), and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston from September 27 to October 9, 2009.

In the period 2006-2007 both my wife Anne Møystad and I had the opportunity to spend our sabbatical at HSDM and MGH. It was a really a good experience and we both started projects with researchers in Boston. My project was to evaluate the occurrence and different treatment strategies concerning ankylosis of the temporomandibularjoint (jaw-joint). This is a serious but uncommon condition that may appear after trauma or as a result of different inflammatory conditions, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis. The group in Boston (Professor Leonard Kaban, Professor David Keith and Dr Maria Troulis) has an outstanding expertise in basic research and treatment with regard to this and similar conditions. In the project we have evaluated different treatment modalities, the results after treatment and complications of treatment of ankylosis of the jaw. The project is now finalized and will be published in the near future with acknowledgement to the Fulbrightstipendiatenes forskningsfond (The Norwegian Fulbright Alumni Fund).

After initializing the project during my sabbatical in 2006-2007, the contact between me and the other members of the group, has been electronically. It was of great importance for me to be able to meet the colleagues in “real time”. In addition to the project on ankylosis, we also discussed further common projects between University of Oslo and HSDM/MGH. Dr. Anne Møystad and I will continue a project on the use of ultrasound in the oro-facial region, together with the Dean of HSDM, Professor Bruce Donoff and Dr. Bernhard Friedland.

We were also able to attend different seminars and meetings on MGH, and of course MGH was very honored by the fact that Professor Jack Szostak (MGH) was one of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

As a result of our collaboration with HSDM/MGH, Dr Maria Troulis (MGH) is invited to be the main speaker at the Scandinavian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons meeting to be held in Oslo May 6-9, 2010.

When going to Boston it is mandatory to watch Boston Red Sox. They lost four out of five games during these two weeks, but they reached the play-off!