At its recent symposium in Nashville, OSAP presented its annual James J. Crawford Award for infection control leadership and commitment; its James A. Cottone Award for Investigative Research; and its newly established Milton E. Schaefer Award for Significant Service.
Named for the University of North Carolina instructor and researcher whose landmark study "If Saliva Were Red" called attention to the potential for disease transmission during dental procedures, the 2002 James Crawford Award for leadership and commitment to dental infection control and safety was awarded posthumously to University of Pittsburgh professor Herman Langkamp III, MS. A former student of Prof. Langkamp's, OSAP founding member John Molinari, PhD, presented the award to the professor's son Karl Langkamp, DO.
Prof. Langkamp was a microbiology instructor at the University of Pittsburgh for more than 30 years before retiring in 1998. He also chaired the school's biohazard committee and developed the Sterilization Equipment Evaluation Service Program that is today reflected in public health policy and professional practice guidelines.
Dr. Molinari describes his professor as "an early infection control innovator," who, by the 1960s, had already implemented routine spore testing of sterilizers within the dental school and had made the university among the first to offer hepatitis B vaccination to students. "Always too humble to accept recognition," Dr. Molinari states, "Herman preferred staying in the background, helping others to succeed."
Prof. Langkamp died November 1, 2001, after a brief illness. He was 73.
The James A. Cottone Award for Investigative Research was presented to Nuala Porteous, DDS, and Bob Cooley, DDS, MS, from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA). Their original research paper, titled "Reduction of bacterial levels in dental unit waterlines," tested the efficacy of a commercially available chlorhexidine-based chemical for controlling dental waterline contamination.
The investigators obtained baseline water samples from three treatment units and three control systems. Lines were flushed daily, and the experimental units were treated overnight according to the chemical manufacturer's instructions.
Mean colony-forming units per milliliter of water declined from 23,389 at baseline to just 6 CFU/ml in week 4 and to 5 in week 12, indicating that intermittent treatment with the chemical agent significantly reduced bacterial counts to acceptable levels.
The Milton E. Schaefer Award is a new OSAP award established in 2002 to recognize significant service to the organization. It is named for its first recipient, Milton E. Schaefer, DDS, MLA, a founding father of dental infection control and long-time contributor to OSAP.
Dr. Schaefer started OSAP's first newsletter and served as its first editor. In addition to his contributions to dentistry, he was a volunteer fireman and Emergency Medical Technician in Sedona, Arizona, and spent several years building houses and serving as building committee chairman for Habitat for Humanity. He also volunteered his time at Boswell Memorial Hospital. In recognition of these accomplishments, he received the 2000 Humanitarian award from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Dr. Schaefer's health prevented him from attending the 2002 OSAP Symposium to accept his award. He died June 22, 2002, at age 75 after suffering arrhythmia and cardiac arrest. He is survived by his wife Patricia, three sons, and five grandsons.
