Awards and Award Winners

2023 Award Winners

2023 Award Winners

Competition winners will be announced at the award ceremony on April 18th, marking the end of the SeDR Symposium. While all competition participants receive a certificate acknowledging their work and contributions to research, monetary prizes will be awarded to the top three winners, with the amounts differing based on their placement: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.


2023 RTCD Award Winners

Awards were announced Wednesday, March 8, 2023.

Literature Review 1
  • First Place: Arnav Jain, Dental Hygiene; Luke Merenuk, Dental Hygiene
  • Second Place: Mya Johnson, Dental Hygiene; Shivam Patel, Dental Hygiene
  • Third Place: Summer Cooper, Dental Hygiene; Daisi Ruiz, Dental Hygiene
Literature Review 2
  • First Place: Jewel Flanigan, Dental Hygiene; Abby Bentley, Dental Hygiene
  • Second Place: Madison Hooks, Dental Hygiene; Claire Pond, Dental Hygiene
  • Third Place: Rebekah Tappendick, Dental Hygiene; Deysi Teran, Dental Hygiene
Faculty Research

  • Todd Schoenbaum, Professor of Restorative Sciences

Clinical Treatment & Materials
  • First Place: Sergio Munoz, Resident, Fort Eisenhower
  • Second Place: Elizabet Floodeen, Oral Maxillofacial Surgery Resident
  • Third Place: Pratik Patel, Oral Maxillofacial Surgery Resident
Basic Science: Pre-dental/Dental Students
  • First Place: Tigerwin Yang, Pre-Doctoral Student
  • Second Place: Cathy Tran, Pre-Doctoral Student
  • Third Place: Nathalie Paladines, DCG Affiliate
Graduate/Residents
  • Harshit Singhania, Graduate Student

DMD with Distinction in Research 2023 Recipients 

Student name Mentor
Amber Durand Dr. Lynnette McCluskey
Caroline Carlock Dr. Jaspreet Farmaha
Katherine Bigham Dr. Regina Messer
Lindsey Brown Dr. Ahmed El-Awady
Melanee Wang Dr. Zoya Kurago
Rebecca Gaillard Dr. Zoya Kurago
Thomas Shepherd Dr. Fred  Rueggeberg
Veronica Xia Dr. Todd Schoenbaum

2022 Award Winners

Awards were announced Wednesday, March 9, 2022.

Basic Sciences Research
  • First Place: Harshit Singhania (Mentor:Dr. Andrew Yeudall)
  • Second Place: Melanee Wang, Rebecca Gaillard   (Mentor:Dr. Zoya Kurago)
Clinical Materials I: Dental Students
  • First Place: Azadi, Ali (Mentor: Dr. Fred  Rueggeberg)
  • Second Place: Shazeen Rattansi (Mentor: Dr. Fred  Rueggeberg)
Clinical Materials II: Dental Students
  • First Place: Elizabeth Smith (Mentor: Dr. Fred  Rueggeberg)
  • Joint Second Place: Parker Blincoe (pre-dental student) (Mentor: Dr. Fred  Rueggeberg); Thomas Shepherd (Mentor: Dr. Fred  Rueggeberg )
Case Study Presentations
  • First Place: Sherin Merchant (Perio Resident) (Mentor: Dr. Celine Joyce Cornelius )
  • Joint Second Place: Ashton Young (Dental Student) (Mentor: Dr. Mario Romero); Bethany Leedy (AEGD Resident) (Mentor: Dr. Mario Romero)
Clinical Treatment: Residents
  • First Place: MAJ Aaron Pfaff (Fort Eisenhower Resident) (Mentor: COL Thomas M. Johnson)
  • Second Place: Kyle Frazier (OMFS Resident) (Mentor: Dr. Jeffrey James)

Clinical Treatment: Students

  • First Place: Lindsay Brown (Mentor: Dr. Ahmed El-Awady)
  • Second Place: Christina Sun, Simran Brar (Mentor: Dr. Jaspreet Farmaha)
  • Third Place: Bashna Shah (Mentor: Dr. Ahmed El-Awady)
Dental Hygiene I
  • First Place: Shanya Massicot (Mentor: Ashley Christman), Briana Docsol (Mentor: Cynthia Hughes)
  • Second Place: Sylvia Coroama (Mentor: Dr. Petrina Hutto), Sara McLane (Mentor: Dr. Petrina Hutto)
Dental Hygiene II
  • First Place: Rachel Woods (Mentor: Ashley Christman), Tracie Wallace (Mentor: Ashley Christman)
  • Second Place: Autumn Philpot (Mentor: Dr. Petrina Hutto), Stephanie Ganthier (Mentor: Dr. Petrina Hutto); Jessica  Wright (Mentor: Cynthia Hughes), Porsche Jones (Mentor: Cynthia Hughes)