The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) honored more than 20 practitioners for contributing to the specialty through their research, education, and advocacy during the opening ceremony of the 99th AAOMS Annual Meeting in San Francisco on October 11.
The meeting was posthumously dedicated to William H. Bell, DDS, for his research on the Le Fort I osteotomy, one of the most commonly used procedures to correct midface deformities. He also is credited for contributing to the specialty’s movement from oral surgery to oral and maxillofacial surgery.
Thomas Dodson, DMD, MPH, received the Robert V. Walker Distinguished Service Award for his research, which has benefited patients and cultivated innovations, according to the AAOMS. He has written more than 100 peer-reviewed articles on office-based anesthesia, wisdom teeth extraction outcomes, identifying victims of domestic abuse via clinical markers, and more.
Congresswoman Jackie Walorski (R-Ind) received the Legislator of the Year Award for her advocacy in combatting the overuse of opioid prescriptions. In recent testimony to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, she outlined 3 policy priorities for addressing the issue: recognizing the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to pain management, promoting cutting-edge research to encourage effective alternatives, and advancing best practices in pain management within Medicare.
Other awards and winners included:
- The Board of Trustees Special Citation Awards: Alejandro Roisentul, DDS, and Mark Wong, DDS
- Clinical Research Award: Leonard Kaban, DMD, MD
- Committee Person of the Year Award: James Mercer, DDS
- Daniel M. Laskin Award for an Outstanding Predoctoral Education: Ruben Figueroa, DMD, MS
- Donald B. Osbon Award for an Outstanding Educator: Steven Roser, DMD, MD
- Faculty Educator Development Awards: Carolyn Brookes, DMD, MD, Michael Markiewicz, DDS, MD, MPH, Ryan Mirchel, DDS, MD, and Mohammed Qaisi, DMD, MD
- Honorary Fellowship: Karin Wittich, AAOMS associate executive director of practice management and government affairs
- Humanitarian Awards for Fellows and Members: Shahid Aziz, DMD, MD, and Robert Bruce MacIntosh, DDS
- John F. Freihaut Political Activist Award: Eugene D’Amico III, DDS
- Presidential Achievement Award: Daniel Gesek Jr, DMD, and James Boyle III, DDS, MS
- Resident Scientific Awards: Ashish Sharma, BDS, MSD, and James Phero, DDS, MD
- Special Honorary Fellowships: Steven Dover, BDS, MBChB, president of the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, and Tara Renton, PhD, MDSc, BDS, president of the British Association of Oral Surgeon
- William J. Gies Foundation Award: Joseph Van Sickels, DDS
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