Professor Caught In Student Selfie With Severed Heads

A dental professor at the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine came under fire for taking a selfie with a group of dental students that featured two severed heads faced upwards, according to Monday reports.

Dr. Flavio Uribe, an assistant professor and director of the orthodontics program, was berated after university officials were made aware of his misconduct in the seemingly controversial photo taken in June at the 2017 DePuy Synthes Future Leaders Workshop, the Associated Press reported. The workshop, which centered around dental-related malformations in the face, took place at Yale School of Medicine.

"Somebody, unfortunately, took a photo," Uribe said in a statement. "It was so quick. I wasn’t sure of the surroundings or scenery at that point."

The photo, which has not been made public, reportedly shows Uribe and a number of graduate students wearing surgical masks as they looked into the camera. Two severed heads, however, were also spotted in the picture face up.

UConn officials released a November 2017 letter to the AP that addressed Uribe's misconduct.

"The taking and the posting of this photo trespasses certain basic principles we have as health care learners," R. Lamont MacNeil, dean of the School of Dental Medicine, wrote in the letter to Uribe. "This action was in very poor judgment and in very poor taste and was disrespectful not only to the body donors but potentially their families."

In the letter, MacNeil acknowledged that Uribe claimed to have no recollection of the picture being taken, which the dean then indicated that "things like this happen rapidly and can be easily overlooked."

"In your leadership position, you must have an increased awareness of such situations and be ready to intervene and correct such serious drifts in judgment," MacNeil added. "You need to make these 'teachable moments.'"

Thomas Conroy, a spokesperson from Yale, claimed that the university intends to increase its supervision methods over the use of cadavers on school grounds.

"The photograph taken at a symposium at Yale was disturbing and an inexcusable deviation from anything Yale would expect to occur," Conroy said in a statement, according to the Washington Post. "The faculty member who was involved in the training at which the photograph was taken has been informed of Yale's expectations in this regard."

Internal measures were taken against Uribe Nov. 16 following his misconduct, a UConn spokesperson confirmed to International Business Times. Details of the punishment weren't made public, however.

Yale officials did not immediately return IBT's request for comment.