Fall 2002 Portrait of a Pro

Sunil Kapila,DDS, MS, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
and Eugene E. West Endowed Chair,
Division of Orthodontics,
Department of Growth and Development,
UCSF School of Dentistry

by Dr. Gerald Nelson

Dr. Sunil Kapila has had an exciting 2002. He hosted the UCSF Alumni meeting at the School, with an open house at the new UCSF Orthodontic Clinic.

His wife, Dr.Yvonne Kapila, and his four-year-old daughter, Anjuli, could not attend because Yvonne was at home, restricted in her activities so that the twins she was carrying would not be born prematurely.

The twins arrived April 25th - Sahil, a brother to Anjuli, and Simran, a sister. Post-partum was a challenge, and the twins had a rocky period. Although things were looking up.

Last week Sunil twisted his wrist. Now he is having trouble working with patients and his computer.

He wouldn't say how it happened - I suspect a diaper-changing accident.

Early Life in Africa

Sunil was born in Nairobi, Kenya. His parents emigrated there from India, and he was raised in a predominately Indian neighborhood with four siblings: two older sisters and an older and younger brother.

He's the first person in the extended family to choose a health science profession; many relatives are in business and education. From the beginning Sunil wanted to work in a health profession-medicine, pharmacy, or dentistry.

There was only one dental school in Kenya, at the University of Nairobi, with a freshman class of 20 students. He was accepted and loved school intensely, staying at the top of his class.

His education was subsidized by the Kenyan government, which required three years of government service. After the first 18 months, it was clear that he had a talent to teach and was nominated to work the remainder of his time working with the dental school faculty. There he learned more about orthodontics, helping the orthodontist who taught the dental students.

Under the mentorship of Dr. Firoze Manji, Public Health researcher, Sunil published his first papers, one on cephalometric norms of the Kikuyu, and another on prevalence of malocclusions in Nairobi. These papers provided the first such data from this part of the world.

During this period of his life in Kenya, Sunil founded and was President of the youth wing at his Temple in Nairobi. He led the young members of this organization on some adventurous escapades, such as a six-member, 300-mile relay race from Nairobi to the coastal city of Mombasa in the African heat to raise money for the physically disabled; and an excursion up Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa.

Fulbright Scholar

Sunil's family could not afford postgraduate studies, so he applied to the U.S. Embassy in Kenya for a scholarship. Following a national competition he was awarded the prestigious Fulbright-Hayes Scholarship, and was accepted into the orthodontic program at University of Oklahoma in 1984, under Dr. Ram Nanda.

He chose the extended three-year specialty training in order to get substantial research experience and a master's degree. He did research on growth changes in soft tissue profile and on bracket-wire friction, and had several publications in these areas.

Since he planned on an academic career, Sunil helped with some undergrad eaching during his residency. This job also provided additional financial resources.

The Oklahoma program provided Sunil with a strong education in standard edgewise and pre-adjusted appliances. It also included the use of some functional appliances, such as the Teuscher appliance and Herbst appliance.

Besides several part-time faculty members, Dr. Ram Nanda, Dr. Frans Currier and Dr. Michael Woods served as important figures in Sunil's education.

Advanced Degree

During Sunil's final year of the specialty program, he decided that he could serve academia much better with a Ph.D. Although he wanted to return home, since no such opportunities were available in Kenya, and because of the incredible educational resources in the United States, he decided to pursue this education in the U.S.

He applied to UCSF and was immediately accepted. In his Ph.D. class, he met another dedicated student, a future periodontist working on her Ph.D. in Oral Biology. She was Dr. Yvonne Hernandez, whose family had come to the United States from Mexico. They found much in common beyond dentistry and research, and married while in the Ph.D. program. Their children are multi-lingual.

In order to fund his Ph.D. education and maintain his orthodontic skills, Sunil taught orthodontics part time at UCSF during the Ph.D. program. Dr. Eugene West gave him much professional and moral support.

He joined the Orthodontic Division as a full-time faculty member in 1993. Sunil completed his Ph.D. research, which identified the enzymes that cause degeneration of TMJ tissues in an animal model of TMJ arthritis. Sunil credits Dr. David Richards and Dr. Caroline Damsky as capable mentors in his Ph.D. research.

As a faculty instructor, he has taught biomaterials, biomechanics, biology of tooth movement, and conducts seminars or conferences in treatment in progress and orthognathic surgery cases.

Sunil also mentors the residents' MS research projects, several of which have won AAO research awards, including the Harry Sicher Award.

Clinical Skills

Dr. Kapila is a clinical orthodontist as well. He praises another faculty member, Dr. Ib Nielsen, who transferred his faculty practice to Sunil, and who mentored his diagnostic and clinical skills.

While several full-time professors in the various institutions that Sunil has attended have served as his academic role models, many part-time faculty at these institutions have nurtured his clinical skills.

Sunil became a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics in 1999, and gives lectures in biomechanics and TMJ diseases at national and international meetings.

Career at UCSF

Dr. Robert Boyd chaired the orthodontics program at UCSF when Sunil first joined as full-time faculty and guided him during the initial stages of his career.

In 1995 Dr. Karin Vargervik became acting chair of the Orthodontics Division. Dr. Kapila achieved tenure in 1999, and succeeded Dr. Vargervik as Interim Chair in 2000. Sunil credits Dr. Vargervik with teaching him many administrative skills needed to lead the Division.

Dean Charles Bertolami asked him to become full Chair in 2001. For us orthodontic faculty at UCSF, Karin and Sunil's leadership has been exciting. Dr. Vargervik beat the Alumni bushes for donations exceeding $750,000, and Sunil immediately laid plans for the new clinic, which was completed in September 200.

UCSF's orthodontics program now has a state-of-the-art clinic with full computer networks at every chair, a completely digital xray center, a new laboratory and computer imaging center.

Sunil has initiated other significant improvements at the UCSF Orthodontic Division. He brought the faculty together to re-design the curriculum. He has brought in several new part-time and full-time faculty members. He began a mentoring program where residents spend several sessions in local private practices. He has revived many UCSF Orthodontic Alumni functions. He has required every resident to take the Phase II ABO written examination prior to graduation. Under Sunil's guidance the UCSF Orthodontic Division currently enjoys several distinctions that attract the top candidates:

• Opportunity for diverse patient care experiences-The residents start and finish a significant number and diverse types of cases.
  
  
• A very strong foundation in the principles of orthodontics
  
  
• Excellent research facilities and mentors
  
  
• Interaction with the other dental specialty schools at UCSF
  
  
• Sophisticated practice management curriculum and an exposure to private practice
  
  
• State-of-the-art facilities.

Other Achievements

Besides having a full plate, both at the personal level and in chairing the program at UCSF, Sunil has other responsibilities and achievements. He represents the PCSO on the AAO Scientific Affairs Council.

He is president of the newly formed COAST Foundation, a consortium of Pacific Coast academic institutions who share information, support career faculty orthodontists and researchers and bring current scientific information to practicing orthodontists through technology transfer conferences.

Sunil also serves as a Director on the board of the Craniofacial Biology Group of the International and American Associations for Dental Research.

Besides being a Fulbright scholar, Sunil was awarded the AAO’s prestigious Milo Helman Award in 1995 and the AADR’s Hatton Research Award in 1994.

He was also granted the Eugene E. West Endowed Chair at UCSF in 2001, which provides money at his discretion for staff and materials in the division.

Sunil maintains an active research laboratory with funding from several NIH grants and an AAOF grant. A major focus of his research is to determine the potential role of reproductive hormones in TMDs in women.

A new area of research emphasis also involves a project to bioengineer a replacement TMJ disc in the laboratory.

Pearls from Dr. Kapila

Sunil urges PCSO members to support the AAO Foundation, whose grants have helped the UCSF Orthodontic Division and orthodontic faculty in many ways. It is one of the methods we orthodontists have to help faculty stay in academics and give back to the profession that gives so much to us.

He tells residents that a career in teaching and research is one of the most rewarding occupations one can have, and it need not keep you from an active clinical practice.

All in all, a fairly well-rounded guy! I can tell you, though, he’s met his match with Anjuli and the twins, and I don’t expect Sunil or Yvonne to be volunteering for extra duty in the near future.