EFP prize for postgraduate research goes to studies on immunology and implants in patients with severe periodontitis

The EFP’s annual Postgraduate Research Prize was awarded at the federation’s general assembly in Bern on March 30.

The winner of the prize for preclinical/basic research was the paper “Resolvin D2 restrains Th1 immunity and prevents alveolar bone loss in murine periodontitis,” written by Gabriel Mizraji, Oded Heyman, Thomas E. Van Dyke, and Asaf Wilensky, which was published in Frontiers in Immunology in April 2018.

The lead author, Gabriel Mizraji, is a student at the EFP-accredited postgraduate programme in periodontology at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem (Israel).

The winner of the prize for clinical research was a randomised clinical trial published in the June 2018 issue of the EFP’s Journal of Clinical Periodontology (JCP). The paper, “A 5-year randomized clinical trial comparing minimally with moderately rough implants in patients with severe periodontitis,” was written by Magalie Raes, Rutger D’hondt, Wim Teughels, Wim Coucke, and Marc Quirynen.

The lead author, Magalie Raes, is a student at the postgraduate programme in periodontology at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium).

The second prize for pre-clinical/basic research was awarded to the paper “Impaired differentiation of Langerhans cells in the murine oral epithelium adjacent to titanium dental implants,” published in the August 2018 edition of Frontiers in Immunology. The lead author, Oded Heymen, is a postgraduate student in the department of periodontology at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical Center.

The second prize for clinical research went to “Leucocyte-and platelet-rich fibrin block for bone augmentation procedure: a proof of concept study,”published in the May 2018 edition of the JCP. The lead author, Simone Cortellini, is a postgraduate student at the EFP-accredited programme at the Catholic University of Leuven.

The winning papers were chosen from a total of five and seven submissions, respectively, for the clinical and basic/preclinical categories by three-member jury, chaired by Phoebus Madianos, chair of the EFP scientific-affairs committee.

“All submissions were of high quality, covering a wide range of research fields. Judging was based on a specific set of criteria, and competition was tough,” said Prof Madianos.

Promoting graduate research

The objective of the EFP Postgraduate Research Prize is to promote graduate research at the EFP-approved postgraduate programmes.

The research work must have been published in print between January and December of year preceding the presentation of the prize in the JCP or in another international, English-language, peer-reviewed scientific journal. In addition, the graduate student must be first author or second author. 

The winning papers will be published on the EFP website.