Jonathan An Receives ADA Foundation Dentsply Sirona Research Award for Dual Degree Candidates 

Jonathan An, DDS, a PhD candidate in oral health sciences at the University of Washington School of Dentistry, has received the inaugural ADA Foundation Dentsply Sirona Research Award for Dual Degree Candidates.

The award promotes and recognizes excellence in oral health research by annually providing $10,000 in financial assistance to a dual degree (DDS/DMD and PhD) candidate who is pursuing a career in research that advances the oral health of the public.

An earned his DDS from the University of Washington School of Dentistry in 2015. For his PhD studies, he is studying the basic biology of aging in the laboratory of Matt Kaeberlein, PhD, taking novel strategies to apply discoveries from the field of geroscience in order to understand an unmet oral health concern for the elderly in the form of periodontal disease.

An has been awarded numerous accolades including the IADR Heraeus Travel Award (2010), first place at both the AADR and IADR Hatton Awards Competitions (2012), as well as winning the ADA/Dentsply Student Research Clinician Program (2013). In addition, he is  an ARCS Scholar (2015) and was recognized in 2017 as a Magnuson Scholar. When he is not in the laboratory, An volunteers as a dentist at Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission.

The award funds may be used to cover expenses related to attending the American Association for Dental Research SCADA competition (Student Competition for Advancing Dental Research and its Application) and, in addition, may be used to defray the cost of one or more of the following: a research project approved by the ADA Foundation; attending one or more scientific conferences in order to further the recipient’s knowledge or skills; and/or presenting their findings at such scientific conference.