The 2023 SCADA Awards (Student Competition for Advancing Dental Research and its Application), cosponsored by Dentsply Sirona and the American Association for Dental, Oral & Craniofacial Research (AADOCR), annually invite US Dental Schools to select a student to participate in the competition, which aims to recognize outstanding student research projects just like every year.

In this year’s edition, a total of 38 selected students submitted their projects in one of the two available categories: Clinical Science &

Public Health Research and Basic & Translational Science. Winners were announced at the AADOCR/CADR Annual Meeting & Exhibition held in Portland, Oregon at the Opening Ceremonies and Awards Program in a special evening event hosted by Dentsply Sirona to which all participants were invited to attend.

Through this award, the initiators have been supporting oral health research for years and promoting young professionals in the early stages of their research careers – also by making them part of a worldwide network of clinicians and scientists.

2023 SCADA Award Winning Projects In the Clinical Science & Public Health Research category:
• 1 st Place: Jay Dalal, University of Connecticut, School of Dental Medicine, won the competition with his research project “The Effectiveness of Current Desensitizing Agents at Hypersensitivity Prevention”.
• 2 nd Place: Julia Kishanie Persaud, New York University, College of Dentistry, project: The Impact of Electronic Cigarette Use on the Salivary Microbiome in Periodontitis Patients
• 3 rd Place: Mackenzie Andrews, Midwestern University, project:

Does Mouthguard Lamination Technique affect Hockey and Baseball Impact Force?

In the Basic & Translational Science category:
• 1 st Place: Natalie Andras from The Ohio State University, College of Dentistry, is the winner with her project “Gene-Editing Provides Functional Evidence for the Ectomesenchymal Origin of Cementoblasts”.
• 2 nd Place: W. Benton Swanson, University of Michigan, project Scaffold-based Approach to Regenerating the Cranial Suture Stem Cell Niche
• 3 rd Place: Darnell Cuylear, University of California, San Francisco, project: Calcium Phosphate Microparticles For Dual Anti-resorptive Drug Delivery and Osteogenesis First, second and third winning projects in each of the two categories were awarded with $1,000 for 1st place, $750 for 2nd, and $500 for 3rd

SCADA – a program dedicated to research and international networking

SCADA was initiated in 1959 and is committed to two main goals: to strengthen the field of dental research by supporting young professionals in early stages of their research careers, and to promote networking between students and clinicians and scientists from all over the world as they develop their skills and advance their careers. Dentsply Sirona and the American Association for Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research support this program as co-sponsors, engaging over 7,000 students worldwide, to showcase their research, recognize their passion for discovery and innovation, and fuel the future of dental care.

In addition to the US competition, the SCADA program also has an international component. Dentsply Sirona sponsored 6 other national student research competitions in France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand in 2022. With Dentsply Sirona’s support, the student winners of each country were invited to present their winning research on a non-competitive manner at the AADOCR/CADR Annual Meeting.

SCADA advances science and improves global oral health

“Our vision at Dentsply Sirona is to transform dentistry and to improve oral health globally. This is just possible with science. What better way to help guide the future of the profession and oral health than to support science in its foundations. The student clinicians are the future of oral science, and we are committed to investing into this future by running the SCADA program in the last 64 years.” said Dr. Rainer Seemann, Vice President Global Clinical Research with Dentsply Sirona.

“It’s a pleasure to recognize and celebrate our new, talented scientists in the oral health space,” said AADOCR President Jane Weintraub. “These accomplished SCADA investigators provide an auspicious future for dental, oral, and craniofacial research.”