The Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences’ 19th annual Research Day was held on April 23 at Centre Mont-Royal. The audience and participants gathered included researchers, dental medicine students, graduate students, Faculty alumni, and academic, clinical and administrative staff, as well as external guest speakers.
A platform for showcasing student research through oral and poster presentations, the event also provided the opportunity for discussion, exchange and reflection. The research presented by our students spanned the Faculty’s research clusters, ranging from potential applications for generative AI in radiology, through building inclusive local-level dental networks, to biofabricating salivary glands.
Alongside these student-led elements, attendees also received an address by keynote speaker Dr. Madhukar Pai, Inaugural Chair of McGill's Department of Global and Public Health on “Protecting global health in an era of polycrisis and autocracy” and a lecture from Zelko Relic, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Align Technology on “Digital Workflow in Dentistry”. Dr. Pai’s inspiring address argued for scientists’ duty to be more involved in societal discourse, and to work towards reestablishing a more compassionate world. His words were well-received, with questions and comments put to him at the end echoing his sentiment that we must all act as global citizens, in solidarity and allyship with fellow humans and on behalf of all beings inhabiting our planet.
During the event, a special recognition was given to Pierrette Wong for her philanthropy and volunteer service to the Faculty. She joined the Faculty's Advisory Board in 1998 and served as Chair for several years, and was named Honourary Chair in 2020. To honour her late husband, she provided a significant gift to the Faculty towards the construction of the Jamson T.N. Wong Laboratories for Bone and Periodontal Research. Mrs. Wong explained to the audience her interest in dentistry stemming from her childhood in Mauritius, where dental care was sporadic at best resulting in a traumatic dental experience. This drove her to working with the Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences to support quality and empathetic dental care accessible to all. She shared her gratitude for the research being caried out to help advance discoveries in dental and oral health sciences, which benefit all.
The day was capped off with an award ceremony for all those who won Research Day prizes and Graduate Studies donor-funded awards. We would like to congratulate the following winners once again!
Best Poster Presentation Award
- First Place: Vinay Ashok Kumar
- Second Place: Swetha Rajah
- Third Place: Sydnie Zuckerman
Best Oral Presentation Award
- First Place: Hannah Cho
- Second Place: Newsha Toreihi
- Third Place: Leanne Van der Merwe
Best Lightning Talk Award: Jan Kwan
Knowledge Translation Award: Gianfranco Patella
Best Publication Award: Michelle Cwintal
Student Research Award, Doctor of Dental Medicine Program: Samer Karkout
Student Research Award, General Practice Residency: Isabella Marsin
Student Research Award, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: Kevin Zhou
Best Critically Appraised Topic Award
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First Place: Isabella Gonsalves, Jacqueline Hsiao, Julia Morganstein, Donna Shafaei, Fredericke Schampaert
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Second Place: Nishtha Chadha, Ashley Hah, Moyosoore Osoba, David Vo, Steven Raspa
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Third Place: Lynh Dan Pham, Matan Tordjman, Maida Ayyaz, Nadia Azzouni, Michael Levy
Dr. Lyon Bercovitch Memorial Award: Nicolas Plays
Dr. Doreen E. Laszlo Graduate Fellowship: Meghan Morrell
James P. Lund Fellowship Dentistry: Leanne Van der Merwe
Dr. Wah Leung Fellowship: Allutas Alhamwi
Dr. E.T. and Mrs. Marjorie Bourke Award: Homa Fathi
De Seve/Outreach Research Graduate Award: Newsha Toreihi
De Seve/Outreach Research Graduate Award: Chetan Shirvankar
De Seve/Outreach Research Graduate Award: Nasim Khosravi
De Seve/Outreach Research Graduate Award: Mridul Sharma
De Seve/Outreach Research Graduate Award: Anisha Rodrigues
G Jones Fellowship Access to Care: Veronica Parra
G Jones Fellowship Access to Care: Mohamed Sangaré
Gibreel Fellowship: Hannah Cho