New York-based orthodontist, Frank C. Andolino, DDS, will receive the 2016 American Dental Association (ADA) Humanitarian Award. He will be honored at the ADA’s 2016 meeting, October 20 to 25, in Denver.

Andolino cofounded Kageno, a New York-based nonprofit operating community development projects in Kenya and Rwanda. Andolino started Kageno, which translates to “a place of hope,” after seeing the need of a remote migrant fishing village during a humanitarian mission in Africa in 2003 where he was providing orthodontic care.

Andolino is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Dentistry, with a certificate in orthodontics from the Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery (today, the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine). Prior to founding Kageno, Andolino was active with the nonprofit Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO). He has taught healthcare professionals as part of humanitarian missions to Vietnam, Cambodia, Sierra Leone, and Nepal. He also served as HVO program director in Tanzania.

In New York, he has worked with Covenant House, an organization that works with homeless youth and runaways. He has also been involved with New York state Special Olympics and Habitat for Humanity.

“With more than three decades serving the underserved all over the world, Dr Andolino inspires all of us to be humanitarians in our own special ways,” said ADA President Carol Gomez Summerhays in a story for ADA News. “His program Kageno has transformed the lives of people in Kenya and Rwanda, and it is the Board’s honor to bestow the 2016 ADA Humanitarian Award to him for his devotion and dedication. It was my privilege to call him with the news of his award.”

Launched in 2007, the ADA Humanitarian Award recognizes member dentists who have displayed at least a 10-year commitment to humanitarian work in the field of dentistry, dedicating their time and professional skills to improving oral health of underserved populations in the United States and abroad.

Andolino will receive a $10,000 donation to the charity of his choice, which he said he will donate to Kageno.