Awards, Presentations, and Celebrations Abound at Fall Dental Specialty Conferences

From Honolulu to Rio and Toronto to New Orleans, the UCLA School of Dentistry community fanned out to conferences across the Western Hemisphere in October, returning to Westwood with a treasure trove of awards and new ideas for enhancing their dental specialties. 

“While the true value of our work lies in providing exceptional patient care and advancing oral health, it’s gratifying to see so many of our colleagues recognized by their peers,” said School of Dentistry Dean and Professor Dr. Paul H. Krebsbach. “I'm proud of our faculty and trainees for their excellence, leadership, and commitment to elevating our profession.”

American Academy of Oral & Maxillofacial Radiology (AAOMR) Annual Meeting | October 13–16 | Charlotte, N.C.

The strength of UCLA’s two-year Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology residency training program, directed by Associate Professor Dr. Mohammed Husain, was on full display at AAOMR 2025. Second-year resident Dr. Stephanie Yu was honored with the Clinical Award, recognizing excellence in clinical oral and maxillofacial radiology research. Her fellow PGY2 Dr. Jason Lai earned the prestigious Albert G. Richards Award, which supports promising graduate-level research in OMR.
 

On the presentation front, alumna Dr. Avni Bhula, O.M.R. ’20, engaged audiences as part of a panel discussion titled Recent Updates Regarding Patient Shielding During Dentomaxillofacial Radiography, highlighting critical developments in radiation safety and clinical protocol. Her participation underscores UCLA’s commitment to thought leadership and cross-institutional collaboration in advancing OMR practice.

American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) Annual Meeting | October 15 to 18 | Toronto, Canada
Highlighting a whirlwind of activity at North America’s largest annual gathering of periodontists were two prestigious awards presented to Dental Bruins. Dr. Joan Otomo-Corgel, D.D.S. ‘76, M.P.H., ’80, and a member of the School’s Board of Counselors, received the AAP’s Gold Medal Award. The Academy’s highest honor recognizes contributions to the field and the diagnosis and treatment of periodontal diseases over a career of 25 years or more. Among many professional affiliations, Dr. Otomo-Corgel is a past AAP President and continues to lecture and publish extensively, while mentoring perio residents at the VA Sepulveda and maintaining a private practice.

Meanwhile, Dr. Yvonne Hernandez-Kapila – the School’s associate dean of research and the Felix and Mildred Yip Endowed Chair– was this year’s winner of the William J. Gies Award, presented to those who have made significant contributions to periodontal literature and the advancement of dental education. 

In other accolades, third-year periodontal resident Dr. Yumna Subhani, P. 26, was a finalist in the Balint Orban Memorial Competition (Basic Science) under the mentorship of Drs. Yusuke Hamada and Takahiro Ogawa, while her co-residents Drs. Jaclyn Chalmers, P. 27, and Pin-Ying “Joyce” Li, P. 26, earned AAP Annual Meeting Scholarships recognizing academic excellence. Recent program alumnus Dr. Brittany Wall, P. ‘24, captured Second Place in the GC Case Presentation Competition.

Faculty and alumni who contributed as speakers and moderators included Drs. Beatriz Bezerra, Hamada, Diana Messadi, Flavia Pirih, Istvan Urban, Preceptor ‘99, Otomo-Corgel, and Sascha Jovanovich, P. ‘92, among others. Topics ranged from artificial intelligence applications in clinical periodontics and sedation management to bone regeneration and scholarly publishing. 

Celebrations were certainly in order as more than 70 people attended the Section of Periodontics’ reception on Friday, Oct. 17, at the InterContinental Toronto Centre. See the event photo gallery.

Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists (PCSO) Annual Meeting | October 16 to 18 | Honolulu, Hawaii – and – International Orthodontics Conference | October 22 to 25 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Section of Orthodontics had a strong presence at the 2025 PCSO Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with the Western Orthodontic Conference for a second straight year.

In the PCSO Scientific Posterboard Competition, UCLA participants shone brightly with six research presentations. Five third-year residents – Drs. Kamron Call, Ausama Gargoum, Ranran Huang, Navid Kerayehchian, and Shilpa Upadhyay – participated, with Dr. Upadhyay earning second place for her project, Lats 1/2 Differentially Modulate the Proliferative State of Dental Epithelial Progenitors and Ameloblasts in the Murine Incisors, under the mentorship mentored by Dr. Jimmy Hu.

Assistant Professor Dr. Yi Lin also participated in the Posterboard competition and claimed first place for her master’s project, Three-dimensional Condylar Changes in Patients with Anterior Open Bite after Orthodontic Treatment: A Retrospective CBCT Study, originally conducted during her residency at UC San Francisco.

Section Chair and Dr. Thomas R. Bales Endowed Chair of Orthodontics Dr. Sunil Kapila hosted an alumni dinner and reception on Friday, Oct. 17, providing an opportunity for program graduates to reflect on the School’s long tradition of excellence while welcoming the next generation of UCLA-trained orthodontists into the fold. In his remarks to the gathering, he thanked the alumni for their continued support of the program and recognized Dr. Katie Bales, O. 06 – who was presented with the California Association of Orthodontists’ Distinguished Service Award during the conference – and Dr. Michael Ricupito, O. 87, a past president of PCSO.

From Honolulu, Dr. Kapila traveled to Rio de Janeiro Brazil, to represent UCLA Dentistry during the World Federation of Orthodontists’ International Orthodontics Conference, where he was presented WFO’s Excellence in Orthodontic Education Award on Oct. 22 and presented on AI and Biomedicine-Driven Precision Orthodontics the following day.

American Academy of Maxillofacial Prosthetics (AAMP) Annual Meeting | October 18 to 21 | New Orleans

The UCLA School of Dentistry's Maxillofacial Prosthetics Fellowship program enjoyed an outsized presence at AAMP 2025. Among more than 40 nationwide poster presenters, First Place in Case Presentation was awarded to Dr. Neddie Zakhariya, M. '26, and her mentor, Dr. Jay Jayanetti, for From Zygomatic Implants to Midfacial Prosthesis: Fifteen Years of Rehabilitation Following Bilateral Maxillectomy and Chemoradiation. The long-term care of this patient involved numerous UCLA MaxPros fellows over a decade and a half, including Drs. Sasha Valentin, M. '17, Jenny Le, M. '18, Stephanie Park, M. ‘21, Kalie McCulloch, M. '22, Stella Stavrou, M. '23, Chen Chen, M. ‘24 and Vincent Lee, M. '25, many of whom joined the team in New Orleans to celebrate the recognition.

Dr. Nguyet Doan, M. '25, earned the Maxillofacial Foundation Award, an annual distinction recognizing personal and academic excellence among recent graduates who show promise as future leaders within the specialty. She and fellow 2025 program alumni Drs. Stephany Ferreira and Lee were inducted as associate fellows of AAMP, while Drs. Ted Tso, M. '19, and Stephanie Park, M. '21, became full fellows.

As part of the conference program, current fellows Drs. Zakhariya, Anna Seydel, M. 26, and Rachel Brooke, M. 26, presented research on digital workflows, oncologic rehabilitation, and speech-outcome optimization, while invited speaker Dr. Valentin delivered a thought-provoking lecture on the Safety and Efficacy of a Lead-Based Oral Device for Daily Photobiomodulation Therapy Prior to Cancer Treatment.

AAMP also featured moments of community and philanthropy, including a group alumni outing and a Maxillofacial Foundation silent auction, where two signed copies of Beumer's Maxillofacial Rehabilitation, co-edited by Professor Emeritus Dr. John Beumer, Dr. Arun Sharma, M. 90, and Dr. Jayanetti, raised more than $4,000 to support education and research for patient rehabilitation worldwide.