UBC Dentistry is incredibly proud of the awards, grants and funding that our faculty and students continue to earn. The achievements listed below are from November 2021 – October 2022.
AWARDS
Julia Burgess (DMD 2024 candidate) was awarded first place in the CDA/Dentsply Sirona Student Clinician Research Program competition.
Shayan Darvish (MSc student) received a Canada Graduate Scholarship—Master’s Research Award for $17,500 for his project “Antibacterial, chemical, and physical properties of a novel dental adhesive loaded with gold nanoshells for photothermal therapy applications,” for April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023. Shayan was also awarded the 2022 Ralph Phillips Student Research Award, sponsored by the Founders’ Fund of the Academy of Operative Dentistry. Dr. Darvish was awarded $3,000 (USD) to support his project titled “Antibacterial, Chemical, and Physical Properties of a Novel Dental Adhesive Loaded with Gold Nanoshells for Photothermal Therapy Applications.”
Madhurima Datta (PhD candidate) was awarded a Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award.
Dr. Mona Hamoda received $4,000 and the prestigious American Association of Orthodontics Milo Hellman Research Award for her research titled “Continuous positive airway pressure, mandibular advancement splints or both: a randomized controlled trial.” Dr. Hamoda also received the 2022 CADR-NCOHR Student Research Award. She won second place in the Senior Clinical/Pre-Clinial Research Category for her research “CPAP and MAS Monotherapy Versus Combination Therapy: A Clinical Trial”.
Isra Ibrahim (PhD student) received a Canada Graduate Scholarship—Doctoral Research Award worth $105,000 for May 1, 2022 – April 30, 2025, for her research project “The role of WNT signalling during normal and abnormal lip fusion.”
Dr. Eshan Jozaghi (DMD 2025 candidate) was one of only 12 recipients across North America to receive the ADEA/GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Preventive Dentistry Scholarship, receiving $2,500 (USD).
Dr. Adriana Manso received a UBC Collaborative Research Mobility Award for her project titled “Dental Biomaterials and Oral Microbiome.” Dr. Manso’s proposal, one of only five proposals funded, received $5,000.
Dr. Sandra Maduke, part-time instructor and lecturer for Orthodontics at UBC, received an award of Merit from the Royal College of Dentists of Canada for the Orthodontic section.
Tala Maragha (PhD student) received a UBC Affiliated Fellowship award valued at $16,000 and a Doctoral Scholarship from the University of Petra valued at $28,000 for September 1, 2022 – August 31, 2023.
Dr. Manoj Paul, postdoctoral research fellow, won the CADR-NCOHR Student Research Award, receiving $1,000. His research, titled “Gelsolin modulates platelet dense granule secretion via the actin cytoskeleton,” won first place in the Senior Basic Science research category.
Anu Rehtlane (BSc’76, DMD’81, LLB’84), received the Faculty’s 2021-22 Alumni Builder Award winner.
Dipon Saha (PhD student) received a UBC Four-Year Fellowship worth $103,736 for May 1, 2022 – April 30, 2026, for his research project “Enzymology and drug discovery for SARS-CoV-2 non-structural proteins.”
Bryan Wang (DMD 2022 candidate) was selected as one of the two winners of the nationwide Colgate Power of a Smile Award, receiving $2,500.
Canadian Journal of Dental Hygiene (CJDH) Awards
- Dr. Zul Kanji received the CDHA Distinguished Service Award recognizing a significant contribution over a minimum four-year period to the advancement of the dental hygiene profession in Canada or nationally.
- Iris Lin (PhD student), Dr. Denise Laronde, Dr. Lewei Zhang, and Ilena Yim (MSc student) received the CJDH Research Award for best original research article for their article, “Basement membrane degeneration is common in lichenoid mucositis with dysplasia.”
- Jessica Tamrat (BDSc 2022) won the CDHA/CJDH Student Writing Competition for best literature review for “‘Trans-forming’ dental practice norms: Exploring transgender identity and oral health implications.”
GRANTS AND FUNDING
Dr. Mario Brondani was awarded the CIHR/IRSC Catalyst Grant: Transforming Public Health for $99,970 for his project titled “Preparation for Transforming Oral Health Prevention throughout Canada: two historical studies, a survey of elected officials and a template for action.”
Dr. Nancy Ford was granted $46,000 from the BC Lung Association for her proposal titled “Denoising preclinical micro-computed tomography images for improved regional analysis of the lungs and pulmonary vasculature in a mouse model of COPD” for February 15, 2022 – February 14, 2024. Dr. Ford also received research infrastructure funds for an in vivo micro-computed tomography x-ray detector, including $150,000 in the NSERC Research Tools and Instruments competition and $50,000 from the UBC Vice-President Research and Innovation Natural Sciences and Engineering Emergency Fund for April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023.
Dr. David MacDonald and his research team, including Dr. Hannu Larjava, Dr. Babak Chehroudi and MSc Perio student Dr. Aneesha Taneja, have received $15,000 in funding as the recipients of the 2021 CCS-HLS Atherosclerosis Research Award for their clinical research project, “Calcified carotid artery atheroma on standard dental radiographs: A public health opportunity for cardiovascular risk reduction.”
Dr. Adriana Manso received $100,000 in funding from UBC as part of the 2022/23 Grants for Catalyzing Research Clusters competition for “Advancing multifunctional dental biomaterials.”
Drs. Mario Brondani, Leeann Donnelly, and PJ Murphy and are recipients of small TLEF Innovation Grants from UBC, totalling $122,882.
Dr. Christopher Overall was awarded the 2022-23 Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation Establishment Grant for $120,000 for “Discovering the Molecular Drivers of Differential Pathogenicity on Infection with SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV.” Dr. Overall also received $149,824.82 for 2022-24 for the “Development of a Lung Organoid Platform to Study TB and SARS-CoV-2 Co-infection and Therapies.”
Dr. Edward Putnins received research operating funds from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. His proposal titled “Regulation of periodontal disease pathogenesis by the effects of novel monoamine oxidase B inhibitors” was granted $100,000 for April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023.
Dr. Jessica Rosin received her first external research operating grant as a new faculty Principal Investigator. NSERC funded her proposal “Characterizing the role CSF1R-expressing cells play in craniofacial development” for $152,500 as part of their Discovery Grants competition. The grant support began April 1, 2022 and runs through March 31, 2027.
Drs. Sharmila Arjunan and Edwin Yen received the Align Technology Research Award for 2021, receiving $25,000 (USD) for their research project titled “Accuracy of Diagnosing Interproximal Enamel Caries Using Bitewing Radiographs and Near Infra-Red Imaging (NIRI) Technology (iTero element 5D scanners) – In Vivo Study.”
S. Wah Leung Endowment Fund Recipients
- Dr. Jolanta Aleksejuniene was awarded $5,000 for her project, “Development and pilot testing of the mini-certificate course for faculty in evidence-based practice.”
- Dr. Zul Kanji was awarded $1,000 for his project, “Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of first-year dental students at the University of British Columbia toward the use of student support resources.”
- Dr. Hugh Kim was awarded $5,000 for his project, “Procoagulant platelets in periodontal disease.”
- Dr. Jessica Rosin was awarded $5,000 for her project, “Studying the signalling effects of CSF1R-expressing cells during craniofacial development.”