The APHA Oral Health Section is pleased to announce the 2006 recipients of The Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Community Dental Health Pre-Professional Awards sponsored by Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals and The Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Community Dental Health Post-professional Award sponsored by OMNII Oral Pharmaceuticals.
The awards were established in 2006 in memory of the late Anthony Westwater Jong and in recognition of his commitment to community-based dental public health, his strong and highly acclaimed mentoring of students, and his emphasis on the importance of state, local and community-based public health action. The awards will be presented at the APHA 134th Annual Meeting and Exposition at the Oral Health Section Award ceremony, Monday, Nov. 6, 2006, 7 p.m.
The 2006 recipients of The Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Community Dental Public Health Pre-Professional Awards sponsored by Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals are:
Gabrielle F. Cannick, BS
and
Brandi R. Jackson, DDS
and
The 2006 recipient of The Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Community Dental Public Health Post-professional Award sponsored by OMNII Oral Pharmaceuticals is:
Kavita Mathu-Muju, DMD, MPH
Gabrielle F. Cannick was a sixth-year student last spring in the Dental Medicine Scientist Training Program at the Medical University of South Carolina, and returned to the second year of dental school in August 2006. The DMSTP is a seven-year program which leads to the completion of the Doctor of Dental Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Cannick is the recipient of an NIH F30 Individual Predoctoral Dentist Scientist Fellowship. She spent a year working with Dr. Alice Horowitz in the area of oral cancer prevention and early detection at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research in Bethesda, Md. Cannick has presented her research at several dental research and public health annual sessions, including APHA, and has published in The Journal of the American Dental Association and the Journal of Public Health Dentistry. For her initial work in oral cancer prevention and early detection, Cannick has received awards for the Most Outstanding Presentation in Clinical Research from the Thomas P. Hinman Dental Society, the President’s Award for Excellence in Dental Research from the National Student Research Group of the American Association of Dental Research, and first place in the Predoctoral Dental Student Merit Award Competition from the American Association of Public Health Dentistry. Her project, entitled, “A Comprehensive Planning and Evaluation Method for Teaching Oral Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Skills to Dental Students,” employed a novel approach toward designing, implementing, and evaluating an oral cancer prevention and early detection intervention for dental students.
Brandi R. Jackson graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry on May 14, 2006. She received a BA with distinction in African and Afro-American studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2002. She began a two-year residency in pediatric dentistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry on July 1, 2006. She is a native of Parkton, N.C. Brandi was a founding member of the Ennead Society of Dental Volunteers, commonly referred to as Ennead. Ennead is a student-constructed initiative designed to encourage student-led community service activities and to develop future community leaders for the state of North Carolina. The society aims to equip student leaders with the skills and passion necessary to address access to care issues in their communities upon graduation from dental school. Ennead desires to become a national model for dental community service among dental students.
Kavita Mathu-Muju received her DMD degree from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg in 1993. She spent the early part of her career as a contract dentist providing dental care for aboriginal children in rural Manitoba and has a long-term professional involvement in “Kindness and Action,” a Canadian volunteer dental mission group with a history of service for indigenous people in Central and South America. Kavita served as Director of the undergraduate pediatric dental program at the University of Manitoba in 2000-03. Last June she completed her final year of training in the dual MPH and certificate of pediatric dentistry residency program at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and recently joined the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry, Division of Dental Public Health, as an assistant professor. Kavita’s project, entitled, “Opinions of Early Head Start Staff about the Provision of Preventive Dental Services by Primary Care Medical Providers,” sought to understand and improve access to primary preventive dental services for infants and toddlers enrolled in Early Head Start programs in North Carolina.
For more information about the Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Community Dental Public Health Student Awards, please contact one of the 2006 Committee Co-Chairs: Amos Deinard, MD, MPH (612-899-2147 (digital pager) deina001@umn.edu) or Kathy Lituri, RDH, MPH (617-638-5202, lituri@bu.edu).
The Pre-Professional Award, sponsored by Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals was awarded to two students this year in recognition of an outstanding community-based research or service project of an oral health nature carried out by a pre-doctoral dental student, or a dentist who has graduated within the preceding 12 months from an ADA-accredited dental school, or a dental hygiene student, or a hygienist who has graduated from an accredited school of dental hygiene in the United States within the preceding 12 months.
The Post-professional Award, sponsored by OMNII Oral Pharmaceuticals, was awarded to one student in recognition of an outstanding community-based research or service project of an oral health nature carried out by a dentist, physician, dental hygienist, nurse, nurse practitioner, social worker and/or other professional with an interest in oral health who is currently enrolled in an accredited school of public health or in an ADA-accredited dental public health program, or who has graduated from such a program in the preceding 12 months.
All of the recipients will receive: $200 cash award; A copy of Jong's Community Dental Health, 5th Edition; One year membership in APHA Oral Health Section; Registration fee to the APHA Annual Meeting; A plaque to be presented at the Oral Health Section Awards Ceremony, Business Meeting; and two tickets to attend the Oral Health Section Reception Dinner following the Award ceremony. In addition, the recipient of The Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Community Dental Health Post-professional Award sponsored by OMNII Oral Pharmaceuticals will also receive hotel lodging and transportation to the Annual Meeting.
Tax-deductible contributions can be made to the Anthony Westwater Jong Community Dental Health Student Awards Enrichment Fund at APHA. These funds will be used to supplement, enhance, and/or enrich The Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Community Dental Health Pre-Professional Award sponsored by Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals and/or The Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Community Dental Health Post-professional Award sponsored by OMNII Oral Pharmaceuticals in a manner that is consistent with donor intent, time period, and event activities and within the guidelines established by the Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Community Dental Health Student Awards Committee. APHA is a 501 (c)(3) organization and as such contributions to the fund are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. The APHA Federal ID# is 13-1628688. Please note: The fund will not be used to cover the costs associated with the solicitation of nominees, the announcement of awardees, the expenses incurred by the Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Community Dental Health Student Awards Committee, to fund an event, reception, or dinner for the presentation of the awards, or for the costs of items not included in the award packages unless otherwise specified by donor intent.
Checks should be made payable to:
The Anthony Westwater Jong Community Dental Health Student Awards Enrichment Fund at APHA and mailed to: The Anthony Westwater Jong Community Dental Health Student Awards Enrichment Fund at APHA c/o Fran Atkinson, American Public Health Association, 800 I Street, NW Washington, DC 20001