Awards

AADOCR Hatton Competition

The American Association for Dental, Oral & Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) is entitled to send qualified individuals to compete in the IADR Hatton Competition and Awards. These individuals will be selected on the basis of an oral presentation competition to be held at the IADR General Session & Exhibition. The 6 winners for the AADOCR Hatton Competition will go on to compete in the IADR Hatton Awards and Competition, later the same day at the IADR Hatton Competition on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

The competition is designed for junior investigators (junior, senior and post-doctoral) who exhibit potential for a productive career in dental research. Mentors are strongly urged to support and select a project for the competition that is original, well-planned, and carefully executed. Mentors are also urged to ensure that the correct Category for Competition is selected.

Award Prize/Recognition
  • $1000 first place winners (one in each category)
  • $500 second place winners (one in each category)
Key Dates

Applications Open:

Jul 14, 2025

Applications Closed:

Oct 27, 2025

Eligibility
  • MUST be AADOCR members
  • Entrants cannot have won previously in the same category

2026 Recipients:

Junior Category – Second Place

Allison McGrath
StemJEL-XR: A Next-Generation Wnt-Blocking Hydrogel for Osteoarthritis Treatment 

Columbia University
 

Allison McGrath
Junior Category – First Place

Jasmine Canlas

Engineered Small Extracellular Vesicles as a Novel Antimicrobial Therapy for Periodontal Disease

Dental College of Georgia at Augusta University
 

JasmineCanlas
Senior Category – Second Place

Karin Shamardani

Efnb1 And Shrm4 Loss Interacts to Cause Cleft Palate

University of California, San Francisco
 

 Karin Shamardani
Senior Category – First Place

Heliya Ziaei

Epigenetic Regulation of Mesenchymal BMP Signaling Directs Tooth Sensory Innervation 

Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC
 

Heliya Ziaei
Post-doctoral Category – Second Place

Xiaolei Li

Nanoengineered Endogenous Commensal Bioreactors for Targeted Biofilm Disruption and Caries Prevention

University of Pennsylvania
 

Xiaolei Li
Post-doctoral Category – First Place

Nicha Tokavanich

Salt-Inducible Kinases Inactivation Reverses Primary Failure of Eruption in Mice

University of California, San Francisco
 

Nicha Tokavanich

Questions about the award?

Beatrice Nguyen

Assistant Manager, Awards, Fellowships, & Grants

Email me