EBD faculty and practice awards

Supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Colgate, the Evidence-Based Dentistry (EBD) Faculty and Practice Awards honor educators and clinicians who have made significant contributions to implement and advance evidence-based dentistry in research, practice, and the classroom.

Accomplished Faculty EBD Award Winner for 2022

Gregg H. Gilbert, D.D.S., M.B.A., is Distinguished Professor and chair of the department of clinical and community sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry. He also serves as founding director of the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network. The National Dental PBRN connects clinical researchers with dental practitioners, creating partnerships that allow working dental offices with real-life patients to be used in the evaluation of existing and novel strategies for improving oral health. To date, the network has conducted more than 50 studies and published more than 190 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles that advance the scientific basis for clinical decision-making and foster the movement of scientific evidence into routine clinical practice. These studies have investigated a broad range of clinical topics using a wide variety of study designs. Of the studies that have completed enrollment as of 2022, a total of 70,665 patients and 19,827 practitioners have been enrolled, and the electronic records of an additional 790,493 patients have been included in two data-only studies..

Mid-career Faculty EBD Award Winner for 2022

JoAnna M. Scott, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Office of Research & Graduate Programs at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry. Dr. Scott is one of a few biostatisticians in the country with a primary appointment in a dental school, and she has used her position to support more than 100 faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, residents, and students in conducting high-quality oral health research that advances the evidence base of dental professions. In the classroom, Dr. Scott teaches residents and graduate students the critical thinking skills needed to assess research articles (and their statistical analysis methods), thereby producing clinicians capable of providing evidence-based oral health care.

Practice EBD Award Winner for 2022

Martha Ann Keels, D.D.S., Ph.D., is a full-time practicing dentist at Duke Street Pediatric Dentistry in Durham, North Carolina, and a provider of general anesthesia services at nearby Duke Health. She also serves as an adjunct associate professor of pediatrics and an associate consulting professor of surgery at Duke University Medical Center; an adjunct professor of pediatric dentistry at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and an adjunct associate professor of dentistry at the University of Rochester. During her tenure as a member of the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs, Dr. Keels chaired the subcommittee that oversaw the ADA’s EBD program. She currently serves on the expert panel developing the upcoming ADA guideline on restorative caries treatments, in addition to serving on the expert panel that is updating the ADA and Food & Drug Administration’s recommendations for dental radiographic examinations. Dr. Keels was a coauthor of the 2019 ADA book How to Use Evidence-Based Dental Practices to Improve Your Clinical Decision-Making.

Awards overview

The Evidence-Based Dentistry Faculty and Practice Awards were established by the ADA and the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR). Winners of the EBD Awards receive a commemorative plaque and a $1,000 honorarium. They are selected by a committee composed of members of the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs Clinical Excellence Subcommittee, representation from AADOCR, and a non-voting participant from Colgate.

Winners of the 2022 EBD Awards were honored at an in-person ceremony during SmileCon 2022 in Houston

Submission instructions

To receive award consideration, applicants or their nominators must submit the following:

Verification that the nominee meets all award eligibility criteria.
Contact information for the nominee (and the nominator, if different than the nominee).
A letter of reference from a colleague, dental school dean, department head, or other leader in the profession describing the nominee's relevant contributions to the profession (focusing on the criteria for the specific award) and the depth, breadth, and diversity of the professional accomplishments relevant to the particular award being sought.
A CV for the nominee.

This is a one-time award; winners are ineligible to apply again. Nominees are not carried over from year to year. Prior-year nominees must apply again for award consideration.

Accomplished Faculty Award category

Award eligibility criteria

Membership in the ADA or AADOCR
Fifteen years or more as a full-time or part-time faculty member at an accredited U.S. university
For example, seven years at school A and eight years at school B qualifies as 15 total years
Have a leadership role in bringing a new EBD research or educational program to their school, or have a leadership role in developing EBD resources for the profession

Past recipients

2021: Dr. Margherita Fontana, University of Michigan School of Dentistry
2020: Dr. Rajesh Lalla, University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine
2019: Dr. Analia Veitz-Keenan, New York University College of Dentistry
2018: Dr. Richard Niederman, New York University College of Dentistry
2017: Dr. Jane Forrest, University of Southern California Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry
2016: Dr. John Rugh, University of Texas Health Science Center Dental School at San Antonio
2015: Dr. Greg Huang, University of Washington School of Dentistry

Mid-career Faculty Award category

Award eligibility criteria

Membership in the ADA or AADOCR
Five to 15 years as a full-time or part-time faculty member at an accredited U.S. university
Outstanding and promising contributions to the practice and profession: Completion of an EBD project within the past two years, or authorship on an EBD-related project (such as an evidence summary, a systematic review, an evidence-based guideline, or a dissemination and implementation research study) that is accepted by a peer-reviewed publication

Past recipients

2021: Dr. Marcelle Nascimento, University of Florida College of Dentistry
2020: Dr. Satheesh Elangovan, University of Iowa College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics
2019: Dr. Joana Cunha-Cruz, University of Washington School of Dentistry
2018: Dr. Vineet Dhar, University of Maryland School of Dentistry
2017: Dr. Jaana Gold, University of Florida College of Dentistry
2016: Dr. Ahmad Abdelkarim, University of Mississippi School of Dentistry
2015: Dr. Donald Chi, University of Washington School of Dentistry

Practice Award category

Award eligibility criteria

Membership in the ADA
Seventy percent of work must be in the clinic providing direct patient care
Completion of an EBD project within the past two years, or demonstrated leadership in implementing EBD to improve patient care in private practice or a public health setting and encouraging colleagues to use research findings in practice

Past recipients

2021: Dr. Brian Nový of Quincy, MA
2020: Dr. Christopher Smiley of Grand Rapids, MI
2019: Dr. Thomas Paumier of Canton, OH
2018: Dr. Elliot Abt of Skokie, IL
2017: Dr. Ben Balevi of Vancouver, British Columbia
2015: Dr. Jane Gillette of Bozeman, MT

Additional past recipients

2016: Combined EBD Faculty Award presented to Drs. Teresa Marshall and Cheryl Straub-Morarend, University of Iowa College of Dentistry

2014: Inaugural Evidence-Based Dentistry Award presented to Dr. Robert Weyant, University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine

Evidence-Based Dentistry Awards