Alexandria, Va., USA - The American Association for Dental Research announced Kyounga Cheon as the second recipient of the AADR Anne D. Haffajee Fellowship. She was recognized at the Opening Ceremonies of the 47th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR), held in conjunction with the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research (CADR). The AADR/CADR Annual Meeting is in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., USA from March 21-24, 2018.
Kyounga Cheon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. Cheon graduated from the Dental School at South Korea and was trained as an orthodontist at the Korean Orthodontic Research Institute. Her research career began at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas where she worked on an interdisciplinary research project bridging clinical and molecular biology to identify novel biomarkers for lung cancer patients.
Inspired by this research experience, she pursued an academic career at University of Alabama at Birmingham. She successfully completed the Pediatric Dental Residency Program while at the same time working on her master's degree in oral biology by receiving a number of fellowships including Rahemtulla Endowed Scholarship Award for Achievement in Research and she was awarded a National Research Service Award T32 post-doctoral fellowship for her postdoctoral research.
Cheon's current research focuses on the investigation of Streptococcus mutans genotypes to determine the cause of caries in high-risk children and develop early diagnostic tool for prevention of dental caries, as well as tooth regeneration using novel nitric oxide releasing biomimetic nano-matrix gel.
"The AADR Anne D. Haffajee Fellowship supports women researchers at the early stages of their scientific careers," said AADR President Raul I. Garcia. "We are pleased to present this Fellowship to Kyounga Cheon and are grateful for all those who have made this Fellowship possible through their generous donations."
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About the American Association for Dental Research
The American Association for Dental Research (AADR), headquartered in Alexandria, Va., is a nonprofit organization with over 3,400 members in the United States. Its mission is: (1) to advance research and increase knowledge for the improvement of oral health; (2) to support and represent the oral health research community; and (3) to facilitate the communication and application of research findings. AADR is the largest Division of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR). To learn more about the AADR, visit http://www.aadr.org.
About the AADR Anne D. Haffajee Fellowship
The Anne D. Haffajee Fellowship was created in recognition of Dr. Haffajee's many contributions to clinical research in periodontology and oral biology and her prominence as a female leader in the field. This Fellowship is endowed thanks to generous donors and the AADR Board of Directors, which is matching donations to fund the endowment at $250,000 allowing for at least one Fellowship of $10,000 to be granted annually. Dr. Haffajee's mentee and friend Flavia Teles created the fellowship, for which an endowment was started with a very generous gift from Haffajee's husband, Charles Haffajee.