Alexandria, Va. – The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) is presenting the 2009 Young Investigator Award to Dr. Mo Kwan Kang, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA. The award will be presented at the IADR 87th General Session & Exhibition in Miami, Florida, USA, on April 1, 2009.
Dr. Kang is associate professor, Section of Endodontics, at the UCLA School of Dentistry. He was the first student who successfully completed the combined D.D.S./Ph.D. program at UCLA, where he graduated in 2001 and completed postgraduate specialty training in Endodontics in 2003.
Dr. Kang has studied the senescence (aging) process in normal human oral keratinocytes, with a long-range goal of understanding the health and disease of human oral mucosa. The objectives of Dr. Kang´s current research are to determine the long-term phenotypic and genetic effects of anti-retroviral drugs on human oral epithelial cells in patients with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). An additional objective is to develop adjunctive therapies to alleviate morbidity in human oral mucosa associated with anti-retroviral therapy.
Beginning with his first publication in 1998, he has authored more than 30 research articles and 40 abstracts. He has won several major research awards, including first place in both the pre-doctoral (1998) and post-doctoral IADR/Unilever Edward H. Hatton Awards Competitions (2002) sponsored by IADR.
Two of the papers authored by Dr. Kang were selected as featured articles—one as the cover of Experimental Cell Research and the other as the corresponding paper of the editorial commentary in Clinical Cancer Research. In 2007, Dr. Kang was awarded a new five-year R01 grant from the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research for the project "Effects of Antiretroviral Therapy on Telomerase Function in Human Oral Epithelium."
The IADR Young Investigator Award, supported by Crest Oral-B, P&G Professional Health, is designed to stimulate basic research in all dental disciplines. The recipient must not have reached his/her 40th birthday at the time the award is presented. The award consists of a monetary prize and a plaque and is one of the 16 IADR Distinguished Scientist Awards, one of the highest honors bestowed by IADR.
About the International Association for Dental Research
The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) is a nonprofit organization with more than 11,300 individual members worldwide, dedicated to: (1) advancing research and increasing knowledge to improve oral health, (2) supporting the oral health research community, and (3) facilitating the communication and application of research findings for the improvement of oral health worldwide.
To learn more about IADR, visit www.iadr.org.