Press Releases

IADR Announces the IADR Centennial Emerging Leaders Award Winners

Published on: February 11, 2020

Alexandria, VA, USA – 2020 marks the Centennial of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR). In celebration of this milestone, the IADR Board of Directors launched the IADR Centennial Emerging Leaders Award to recognize young investigators who will lead the research field into the next century. The award winners will be highlighted during the Opening Ceremonies and Awards Program at the 98th General Session & Exhibition of the IADR, held in conjunction with the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental Research and the 44th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, on March 18-21, in Washington, D.C., USA. 

Each of the five IADR Regions selected qualified nominees, within 10 years of completing their last terminal degree, who have demonstrated scientific accomplishment in the field of dental, oral and craniofacial research and have shown outstanding promise for continuing service and leadership within the IADR and the scientific community. These accomplished young investigators are poised to lead the IADR into the next century of groundbreaking research and discovery.

IADR Centennial Emerging Leaders Award Winners

Africa/Middle East Region

Fawaz Alzoubi, Kuwait University, Kuwait City (Kuwaiti Division)

Amira Besbes, Monastir University, Tunisian (Tunisian Section)

Asia/Pacific Region

Waruna Lakmal Dissanayaka, The University of Hong Kong, SAR, China (Southeast Asian Division)

Lina Niu, The Fourth Military Medical University, Shaanxi, China (Chinese Division)

May Lei Mei, The University of Hong Kong, SAR, China (Chinese Division)

Carolina Loch Santos da Silva, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand (Australian/New Zealand Division)

Santosh Tadakamadla, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia (Australian/New Zealand Division)

Latin American Region

Valentim Adelino Ricardo Barão, University of Campinas, Brazil (Brazilian Division)

Sebastian Fontana, National University of Cordoba, Argentina (Argentine Division)

Diana Gabriela Soares, University of São Paulo, Brazil (Brazilian Division)

North American Region

Luiz Eduardo Bertassoni, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, USA (American Division)

Marco C. Bottino, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA (American Division)

Kimon Divaris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA (American Division)

Brian Foster, The Ohio State University, Columbus (American Division)

Dmitry Shungin, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Boston, Massachusetts, USA (American Division)

Tamanna Tiwari, University of Colorado, Denver, USA (American Division)

Pan European Region      

Henry Fergus Duncan, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (Irish Division)

Vesna Miletic, University of Belgrade, Serbia (Continental European Division)

Gustavo Giacomelli Nascimento, Aarhus University, Denmark (Scandinavian Division)

Falk Schwendicke, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany (Continental European Division)

“IADR is proud to recognize these exceptional early-career researchers,” said IADR President Paula Moynihan. “These leaders will help guide the next century of discovery and innovation in the field of dental, oral and craniofacial research across the globe.”


International Association for Dental Research

The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) is a nonprofit organization with over 10,000 individual members worldwide, with a Mission to drive dental, oral and craniofacial research to advance health and well-being worldwide. To learn more, visit www.iadr.org

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