Honors at AADR/IADR–Faculty, Students, Resident Win Awards3 min read
Ann Arbor, MI — March 27, 2013 — Faculty and students from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry won several major awards during the recent annual sessions of both the American Association for Dental Research and the International Association for Dental Research in Seattle.
Dr. Jill Bashutski 
Dr. Darnell Kaigler (right) receiving the Young Investigator Award 
Dean Peter Polverini is the new AADR president. With him is outgoing AADR president, Rene D’Souza 
Dr. Aaron Havens, Hatton Award winner
- Dean Peter Polverini was installed as the new AADR president at the conclusion of the organization’s annual session.
- Dr. Aaron Havens, a third-year resident in the School’s Graduate Orthodontics Program, won a second place Hatton Award for his research investigating if it may be possible to use a person’s cells to develop therapies that can regenerate tissues in the craniofacial region following trauma or infection, or perhaps to repair congenital anomalies. The annual award recognizes junior investigators who have the potential for a productive career in dental research.
- Dr. Jill Bashutski, a clinical assistant professor of dentistry in the Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, received the William B. Clark Clinical Research Fellowship. The Fellowship honors the memory of Dr. William B. Clark, a professor of oral biology and director of the Periodontal Research Center at the University of Florida. The $5,000 award was provided to support Bashutski’s research.
- Dr. Darnell Kaigler, an assistant professor in the Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, received the Sigmund Socransky Young Investigator Award from IADR’s Periodontal Research Group. The award is annually presented to a promising young investigator in periodontology who is in the early phase of his or her academic and research career.
- Vincenzo Desiderio won an IADR/Colgate Research in Prevention Travel Award. The award encourages young investigators to conduct research to prevent oral health diseases and present the results of the work to the international oral health community. His research focuses on stem cell implications in oral carcinogenesis. He is mentored by Dr. Silvana Papagerakis.
- Dental student Jae Shin received the GlaxoSmithKline 2013 Student Research Fellowship.
- Dental student Saalini Velamakanni received the DENTSPLY International 2013 Student Research Fellowship.
The research fellowships encourage dental students in the U.S. to consider careers in oral health research.