Alexandria, VA – The American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) has announced Jacqueline Mays as the 2026 inaugural recipient of the AADOCR SCADA/Dentsply Sirona Research Award. Mays, from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), was recognized during the Opening Ceremonies of the 55th Annual Meeting of the AADOCR, which was held in conjunction with the 104th General Session of the International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (IADR) and the 50th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research on March 25-28, 2026 in San Diego, CA.
Mays is a mucosal immunologist and clinical trials dentist whose research centers on chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) affecting the salivary glands and oral mucosa. She leads the Oral Immunobiology Unit within the Division of Intramural Research at NIDCR, holds the distinction of Lasker Clinical Research Scholar at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and directs the NIDCR Dental Clinical Research Fellowship program.
The Mays laboratory investigates the immunological and physiological mechanisms underlying salivary gland dysfunction following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and elucidates the pathogenesis of oral cGVHD. Mays’s team also conducts clinical trials aimed at advancing therapeutic strategies for cGVHD. She previously completed a clinical research fellowship at the NIDCR and earned a Master of Health Sciences in Clinical Research from the Duke University School of Medicine.
Prior to her tenure at the NIDCR, she was a postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Viral Diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at NIH. Mays received her DDS and PhD degrees from The Ohio State University College of Dentistry and holds a BS in Biology and Chemistry from Valparaiso University.
The AADOCR SCADA/Dentsply Sirona Research Award is supported by a generous donation from the SCADA Alumni Association with matching funds from AADOCR. The award was created to support dentist-scientists, particularly SCADA Program Alumni, in their research careers. Its goal is to support early-stage dentist-scientists, such as post-doctoral scholars and pre-tenure faculty members, to increase the number of successfully funded dentist-scientists at the higher ranks in science and academia in the fields of Dental, Oral, and/or Craniofacial Biology.
About AADOCR
The American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to drive dental, oral, and craniofacial research to advance health and well-being. AADOCR represents the individual scientists, clinician-scientists, dental professionals, and students based in academic, government, non-profit, and private-sector institutions who share our mission. AADOCR is the largest division of the International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research.
