Academy Awards
OF President Dr. Hans Peter-Weber (second from left) with 2025 grant winners Drs. Ravida, Pow and Chen.
AO’s “Academy Awards” highlight dental implant excellence
The Academy of Osseointegration’s (AO) Annual Meeting is not only a time to learn about the latest evidence-based science, but also to recognize excellence for the global dental implant community.
To that end, AO’s 40th Annual Meeting in Seattle was no exception in honoring members, leaders and researchers for their exemplary efforts and achievements:
Nobel Biocare Brånemark Osseointegration Award
R. Gilbert Triplett, DDS, MD, PhD, was the 17th recipient of this prestigious honor, annually made possible by a grant from Nobel Biocare, bestowed by the Osseointegration Foundation (OF). Dr. Triplett is an oral surgeon and Regents Professor at Texas A&M University School of Dentistry, retired from the U.S. Navy Dental Corps as a captain with 21 years of service.
Osseointegration Foundation Grants
The Osseointegration Foundation annually funds three grants, each for $50,000, to support research in osseointegration. The research is conducted over a 12-month period and upon completion, the recipients are invited to present their outcomes at our meeting. This year’s recipients were:
Shoucheng Chen, DDS, PhD: Basic Science Research Grant
“2-DG/Mesoporous Silicon/Hydrogel Modulates Immune Balance by Targeting Glycolysis.”
Ho Nang Edmond Pow, BDS, MDS, PhD: Restorative Science Research Grant
“A Novel A-I-based Intraoral Scanning System for Complete-arch Implant Rehabilitation.”
Andrea Ravida, DDS, PhD: Translational and Clinical Science Research Grant
“Single-cell Sequencing to Characterize Bleeding on Probing Scores in the Diagnosis of Peri-implant Diseases.”
Last fall, members of AO’s Research Submission, Clinical Innovations and e-Poster committees reviewed each abstract and selected the most innovative and relevant research to highlight at this year’s meeting. Committee members then attended the Clinical Innovations, Oral Research presentations and ePoster sessions and evaluated each of the lectures to determine this year’s “Best Presentations.” They were:
Best Clinical Innovation Presentation
Jinlong Shao, PhD: “Comparison of Artificial Intelligence Models for Automatic Segmentation of the Mandibular Canals and Branches.”
Best Oral Clinical Research Presentation
Jacob Zimmer, DDS: “Risk Indicators for Peri-Implant Diseases and Peri-Implantitis Severity: A Cross-Sectional Study on Implants with 5 to 10 Years of Loading.”
Best Oral Scientific Research Presentation
Heithem Ben Amara, DDS, MSc, PhD: “Osseointegrate and Vanish: Immunomodulation by Biodegradable Magnesium Implants Shapes Their Integration into Bone.”
ePoster Awards
With nearly 200 ePosters on display and presented throughout the meeting, the following winners were determined by the AO ePoster Committee:
Alexander Rubinov, DDS: First Place ePoster Presentation
“Butterfly Graft: Optimizing Soft Tissue Outcomes in Adjacent Maxillary Implants Using a Digital Approach.”
Parham Hazrati, DDS: Second Place e-Poster Presentation
“Comparison of Ultrasonography, CBCT, Transgingival Probing, and Probe Transparency with Histological Gingival Thickness: A Diagnostic Accuracy Study Revisiting Thick Versus Thin Gingiva.”
Jamil Awad Shibli, DDS, MSc, PhD: Best ePoster Case Study Presentation
“Vertical Ridge Augmentation Using Ceramic 3D-printed Customized Bone Block-associated rhBMP-2: A Report After Four Years Implant-supported Restoration Loading.”
AO’s Got Talent: Emerging Leaders Competition
This initiative invited five early career clinicians and academicians with less than 10 years in the field the opportunity for a nine-minute presentation on the main podium. A panel of judges ranked the presentations. After careful consideration, they selected:
Javier Calatrava, DDS, MSc: “Full Maxillary Arch Rehabilitation by Means of a Multidisciplinary Digital Workflow Using Customized Titanium Meshes and Guided Implant Surgery.”
New Fellows
Fellowship in the Academy is obtained by demonstrating a commitment to the field of osseointegration. Members must excel in both academics as well as service to the Academy. Six members achieved Fellowship status:
Wei-Jen Chang, DDS, MS, PhD
Tirakhsh Emadi, DDS, MS
Hans Malmstrom, DDS
Bharathi Devi Myneni, BDS
Nikolaos Soldatos, DDS, MSD, PhD
Tiziano T. Testori, MD, DDS, MSc
AO’s prestigious Masters and Diplomate credentialling program provides certificates in either Surgical, Restorative or a combination of both. The program is geared toward: incentivizing practitioners to obtain advanced education, training and experience; promoting high quality implant education; and enhancing patient care.
Of the 26 certificate recipients, 21 applied for and passed the rigorous AO Masters Certificate exam:
Keon Ahghar, DDS
Chanjuan Chen, DDS
Jeremiah Davis, DDS, MBA
Douglas Hock, DDS, MS
Cheng-Chieh Huang, DDS
Daizo Ishiguro, DDS
Kimberly Kim, DDS, MScD
Renli Li, DDS
Yongjian Li, DDS
Yen-Chun Lin, DDS
Hongping Liu, DDS
Tarik Patel, MDS, BDS
Jason Poon, DDS
Dandan Song, PhD
Gulin Tan, DDS
Huali Wang, DDS
Wei Wang, DDS
Rongjing Wang, DDS
Yangming Yu, DDS
Jinlong Zhang, DDS
Xianming Zhou, DDS
Several individuals also applied for the AO Diplomate Certificate this year. Recipients were:
Jeannette Chua, BDSC, MAC, MS
Cheng-Hsiang Hsu, DDS, MS
Kiarash Karimi, DDS
Kanyon Keeney, DDS
Toshiki Nagai, DDS, MSD
Academic Contribution Award
This new AO award recognized Joey T. Chen for his efforts in establishing the first AO training center in China and for meeting all of the requirements needed to prepare many of this year’s recipients of our Master and Diplomate certificates. Dr. Chen was also instrumental in the initial development of the certification.
Congratulations to all on these tremendous achievements!
View award winner and all the photos from AO’s exciting Annual Meeting via its online photo album.
New AO Fellows: Drs. Chang and Soldatos, Mynen, Malmstrom, and Emadi, joined by Drs. Neugebauer (third from left) and Vogel (far right).
