Jackson Free Press

When Denise Krause, 40, graduated from the Monterey Institute of International Studies with a Masters in Russian, it was likely that neither the dentistry nor the technological field was on her mind. She was on her way to post-graduate school in Moscow, then to other parts of Europe, where she saw the Berlin Wall fall.

She made her way back to the states as the Russian translator and interpreter for Conoco, eventually being relocated to Jackson almost 12 years ago. When she got laid off, she decided to do something different. Friends of hers in health care led her to UMC, where she was hired to build the infrastructure for the technology used today in the School of Dentistry.

"I have a really confusing job," she laughs. "It evolves on a daily basis."

What began as building an infrastructure is now a complex merging of health care and technology, which Krause believes will be key in disease-prevention methods. Many co-workers noted in a recent UMC newsletter that Krause has been crucial in developing these technologies.

Because of her work, the UMC school of dentistry was the first in the nation to switch to chair-side digital data entry. This allows students to input data at a patient's chair so that they can capture data about the treatment. This also allows professors to automatically grade a student's work, which increases student management and clinical productivity.

"Once the data is all acquired, clusters can be formed and compared to decipher environmental factors in problems and diseases," Krause explains enthusiastically.

The work going on at UMC is helping to build respect for Mississippi in other areas, too, she notes. "I heard someone say at a conference recently, 'Yeah, people in Mississippi are really doing things.'"

In the midst of developing these technologies with co-workers, Krause is also a doctoral student in preventive medicine with an emphasis in epidemiology and a faculty member at UMC—highly unusual for staff members. Though performing under three different titles, Krause seems to have no problem balancing her work.

"I love working there," she says. "It's so exciting and different every day. There are endless opportunities."

And she might even get back to that Russian she studied years ago. "HIV is really rampant in Russia, so I hope to use the skills I've learned here to work over there."