At its 59th Annual Session, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry named the winners of its AAPD Foundation Awards, which assist postdoctoral students in pediatric dentistry and support research projects that benefit both the profession and the public.
The awards that were presented at the Annual Session include:
The Graduate Student Research Awards (GSRA), sponsored by NuSmile Crowns, honor eight current or recent pediatric dentistry postdoctoral students/residents for their research, giving them complimentary annual session registration and travel expense reimbursement for two, a cash award and plaque at the Annual Session, and a matching award for each finalist's training program.
The seven finalists each offered an oral presentation of their work at the Annual Session. After these presentations, the finalist was selected and honored with the Ralph E. McDonald Award as well as an additional cash award courtesy of the Indiana University of Pediatric Dentistry Alumni Association.
This year's winner of the Ralph E. McDonald Award was Derek S. Zurn of the Baylor College of Dentistry (Dallas, TX) for the project "Light Cured Calcium Hydroxide Versus Formocresol in Human Primary Molar Pulpectomies" (additional author: N. Seale).
The Foundation Research Awards, presented annually to four clinicians, researchers or academicians in pediatric dentistry for outstanding research efforts. These finalists received complimentary Annual Session registration and travel expense reimbursement for two as well as a cash award and plaque at the Annual Session. After presentations of their research at the session, an overall Foundation Award Winner was selected and given an additional cash award.
This year's overall winner was Kaaren G. Vargas from the University of Iowa for the study, "Preliminary Efficacy of Sodium Hypochlorite for Pulpotomies in Primary Molars" (additional authors: B. Packham, D. Lowman).
The OMNII Pediatric Dentistry Postdoctoral Fellowship, presented to three pediatric dentistry postdoctoral students were selected this year for this award, which offers winners a yearlong research fellowship made possible by the generous support of OMNII Oral Pharmaceuticals.
This year's winners include:
*Stacey Kutsch, "Molecular Analysis of the Caries Biofilm in Incipient Early Childhood Caries" (Columbus Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio) Program director: Amr Moursi
*Hally R. White, "General Anesthesia Legislation: The Effects on Operating Room Visits and Associated Costs for Preschool Children Undergoing Dental Treatment" (The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C.) Program director: William F. Vann Jr.
*Yoo-Lee Yea, "A Comparison of Early Childhood Caries Risk Assessment Tools in a Pediatric Setting" (University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.) Program director: Dennis Sipher.
