The editors of the American Journal of Public Health have selected Jay W. Friedman as Author of the Year for his paper, The Prophylactic Extraction of Third Molars: A Public Health Hazard, published in the September 2007 issue. (Am J Public Health. 2007;97:1554-1559).* The reason for the two-year delay in recognition is to allow sufficient time to have passed in order to gauge the effectiveness in advancing, "a given health policy or program by persuading readers to think differently about a topic."

The announcement of the award along with commentaries will be published in the November 2009 online issue of AJPH that celebrates the APHA annual meeting.

*Requst a copy of this paper and the APHA policy opposing prophylactic removal of third molars from drjfriedman@sbcglobal.net.