IADR/AADR—William J. Gies Award

Recipients of the 2013 William J. Gies Award with IADR/AADR representatives, from left to right: Mary MacDougall, immediate past president, IADR; Esther Chen, then MSc student, now DMD 2014 candidate, Yuqi (Sarah) Zhu, research associate, Catherine Poh, associate professor, and Rena D’Souza, immediate past president, AADR.

For their paper*, titled “Unique FISH patterns associated with cancer progression of oral dysplasia”, UBC Dentistry authors Dr. Catherine Poh and colleagues won the 2013 William J. Gies Award. The International and American Associations for Dental Research (IADR/AADR) gives this award for the best clinical research paper published in the Journal of Dental Research over a 12-month period.

The paper describes the use of molecular markers to characterize oral pre-malignant lesions according to their risk of developing into cancer. Poh is an oral pathologist and associate professor of dentistry at UBC. Through a detailed process of genome sequencing, her research initiatives aim to identify high-risk oral cancer patients.

The award was presented at the Association’s 91st General Session & Exhibition on March 20, 2013, in Seattle, Washington.

*Reference
Poh CF, Zhu Y, Chen E, Berean KW, Wu L, Zhang L, Rosin MP. Unique FISH patterns associated with cancer progression of oral dysplasia. J Dent Res. 2012;91(1):52-7. Epub 2011 Oct 11.

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ADEA—Olav Alvares Award

Drs. Mario Brondani and Shiva Khatami each received an Olav Alvares Award from the American Dental Education Association on March 16, 2013, in Seattle Washington.

The American Dental Education Association honoured Dr. Mario Brondani, assistant professor, with an Olav Alvares Award for best article published in the Journal of Dental Education in 2012. His paper, titled “Teaching Social Responsibility Through Community Service-Learning in Predoctoral Dental Education”, was selected under the category of junior faculty. Brondani is a core faculty member of UBC Dentistry’s Professionalism and Community Service Learning program, a course in all four years of UBC’s dental curriculum that combines classroom learning with community-based outreach initiatives.

Shiva Khatami PhD 2010 (supervisor: Dr. Michael MacEntee), also won an Olav Alvares Award for best article published in the Journal of Dental Education in 2012 by a junior scholar. Her paper was written while completing her doctorate degree at the Faculty of Dentistry.

Brondani and Khatami received their awards at the 2013 ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition on March 16, 2013, in Seattle Washington.

CADR—Student Research Award

Under the supervision of Dr. Joy Richman, professor in the Department of Oral Health Sciences, graduate student Sara Farahabadi’s research project titled “Wnt5a Induces Enzymatic Degradation of Craniofacial Cartilage via JNK Signaling” won first place in the Canadian Association of Dental Research’s senior basic science category—she garnered the CADR Student Research Award. The award, also sponsored by Henri Schein Canada, was given at Annual General Meeting of the CADR held in conjunction with the meeting of the International Association for Dental Research in Seattle, Washington in March 2013. As an award recipient, Sara represented Canada at the Unilever/Hatton competition in Seattle during the same month.

CIHR—Travel Award

For her poster presentation, “Role of Connexins in Regulating Fibroblast Function in Wound Healing”, graduate student Rana Tarzemany, candidate for a doctorate degree in Craniofacial Science and Diploma in Periodontics, won a CIHR Institute Community Support Travel Award to attend the International Association of Dental Research General Session. Her supervisor is Dr. Lari Hӓkkinen.

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