LLU School of Dentistry Journal

Alumni Life

Dr. Brett Clifton works with senior dental student Lisa Bozzetti. He recently accepted a position in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Brett Clifton, SD’86 has accepted a position as director, Marillac Dental Clinic in Grand Junction, Colorado. Before moving to Colorado, he served as assistant professor, dental educational services, with the School of Dentistry, and in administration for the dental benefit program, Riverside County’s medical indigent program.

According to Dr. Clifton, Merillac Dental Clinic serves an uninsured population with a tremendous need. Three staff dentists and six volunteer dentists staff the clinic.

The University of Colorado sends between 4 and 8 students to the clinic as part of their training, and dental hygiene students come to the clinic from a school in Rangeley. The clinic is privately owned, with much of the funding supplied through contracts and grants. Approximately half of the patients are pediatric. Dr. Clifton looks forward to a new, $1.9 million facility with 12 operatories that is now in the planning stages. Groundbreaking is scheduled to take place in March, 2002.

He hopes to find a way to become involved with the School’s outreach and mission programs, perhaps supervising dental and dental hygiene students during one of the many mission trips that take place each year.

Dr. Lois Center-Shabazz has started a website with information for investors.

Lois Center-Shabazz, SD’80 was profiled in the Techwatch section of the Black Enterprise magazine, June, 2001.

According to Black Enterprise, “Years of successful investing made Dr. Center-Shabazz an expert on financial planning and investing. Besieged with requests for investment tips from family members and friends, she decided to write a financial manual.” The idea soon developed into a website, <MsFinancialSavvy.com>.

“After learning investing on my own,” she told the magazine, “I found that brokers were giving me investments that gave them big commissions, but very little return on my investments.”

MsFinancial Savvy.com has several free tutorials for people who want to learn more before they begin investing. Complimentary e-mail, financial calculators, stock quotes, and scholarship information are also available on the website.

Classmates from SD’89 (pictured, from left) Eric Meyer, Richard Zbaraschuk, Trish Van Dyke, and Karl Peach enjoyed a recent motorcycle trip in the Napa Valley.

Trish Van Dyke, SD’89 joined classmates Eric Meyer, Richard Zbaraschuk, and Karl Peach for a motorcycle trip in the Napa Valley. “It was a great way to catch up on dental news,” she writes.