CHICAGO, October 9, 2026 — The American Dental Association (ADA) has announced the winner of the Norton M. Ross Award for Excellence in Clinical Research and the recipients of the Evidence-Based Dentistry (EBD) Faculty & Practice Awards at the ADA 2026 Scientific Session in Indianapolis, Ind. They will be celebrated on Oct. 9 during the Changemakers Celebration.
Norton M. Ross Award for Excellence in Clinical Research
Daniel Fine, D.M.D., has received the Norton M. Ross Award for Excellence in Clinical Research for his distinguished career as a research leader in the causes of localized aggressive periodontitis on a biological, molecular and clinical level with the goal of developing preventative strategies. Dr. Fine is currently the Chair of the Oral Biology Department and Senior Associate Dean at Rutgers School of Dental Medicine. He has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed publications, received numerous NIH and corporate-sponsored grants and held frequent leadership roles on editorial boards and study sections. Dr. Fine's work has consistently demonstrated reproducibility and has been validated by independent investigators across the globe, underscoring the robustness and translational relevance of his research. His scholarship and policy work helped clarify and reclassify aggressive periodontitis, integrating microbial and host-based criteria into the diagnostic framework now used worldwide.
Evidence-Based Dentistry Accomplished Faculty Category
Deborah Polk, Ph.D., has received the Evidence-Based Dentistry Award in the Accomplished Faculty category. She has been a full-time faculty member in the Department of Dental Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine since 2004, during which she has built a nationally recognized program of scholars and teachings focused on moving evidence-informed oral health guidelines into routine dental care. In collaboration with the ADA, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Polk helped develop two evidence-informed clinical practice guidelines for pharmacologic management of acute dental pain, one for children and the other for adolescents, adults and aging adults. She has advanced dentistry through research that addresses real-world barriers, guideline development that has informed national clinical policy, implementation strategies that have changed clinical practice, and through teachings that equip her students and colleagues to use evidence in all patient-centered care.
Evidence-Based Dentistry Mid-Career Faculty Category
Julie Frantsve-Hawley, Ph.D., has received the Evidence-Based Dentistry Award in the Mid-Career Faculty Category. Dr. Frantsve-Hawley was the primary investigator on a grant from the National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research to launch the ADA Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry in 2007. As the Center's Senior Director from 2012-2014, she worked with the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs and its volunteer expert panels to build the ADA's clinical practice guideline program. In 2008, she also partnered with member dentists to create the Evidence-Based Dentistry Champions Conference and the Advanced Evidence-Based Dentistry Workshop in 2009, which trained dental professionals to apply evidence in practice and share it with their colleagues. She is the Associate Editor for Guidelines and Systematic Reviews for the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) and has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Evidence-Based Dental Practice since 2023. As a faculty member at A.T. Still University’s College of Graduate Health Studies, Dr. Frantsve-Hawley trains and teaches graduate students in public health, helping working health professionals apply evidence to practice and policy. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Temple University’s Kornberg School of Dentistry, where she teaches evidence-based medicine and systematic reviews.
For more information about the Norton M. Ross Award for Excellence in Clinical Research, visit https://www.ada.org/about/volunteer-and-get-involved-with-the-ada/norton-m-ross-award-of-excellence-in-clinical-research.
For more information about evidence-based resources, visit https://www.ada.org/resources/research/science/evidence-based-dental-research.
Editor’s Note: Reporters are invited to follow the ADA on X @AmerDentalAssn and #ADASciSession26 for updates from the ADA 2026 Scientific Session.