Guang Yang, a graduate student in the department of pharmacotherapy and translational research, received a travel grant to present a high-ranking poster featuring his study of genetic variants associated with bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw at a plenary session of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Annual Meeting in Denver, Sept. 8-11. The meeting brings together clinical and experimental scientists who are involved in the study of bone and mineral metabolism. Yang’s research identified three single-nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, located on the SIRT1 gene with high linkage disequilibrium to each other that may be potential functional variants associated with bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw. The condition is found in patients who have received intravenous and oral forms of bisphosphonate therapy for various bone-related conditions.