Align Technology Inc, San Jose, Calif, announced 11 recipients of the company’s Annual Research Award Program. The program, which is in its ninth year of funding, is awarding close to $300,000 for 2018 to researchers at universities in the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific.
“As leaders in clear aligner therapy, we are committed to the advancement of the orthodontic and dental fields. Innovations in technology have provided more insight than ever before into clinical and scientific research, and we are pleased to support universities around the world aimed at the improvement of dental and orthodontic patient care,” said Zelko Relic, Align Technology chief technology officer and senior vice president, global research & development.
The Americas research award recipients for 2018 are Dr Kurtis Kasper at University of Texas at Houston; Dr Paula Vanessa Pedron Oltramari-Navarro at UNOPAR, Brazil; Dr Solange de Paula Ramos at the Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Brazil; and Dr Jorge Faber at University of Brasilia (Brazil)
The European research award recipients for 2018 are Dr Tomasso Castroflorio at the University of Turin (Italy); Dr William Papaioannou at National Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece); and Dr Patricia Cintora Lopez at University of Madrid (Spain)
The Asian research award recipients for 2018 are Drs Wenli Lai and Hu Long at Sichuan University (Chengdu, China); Dr Liu Jihui at Dalian Medical University (Dalian, Liaoning Province, China); and Dr Meghna Vandekar at YMT Dental College & Hospital (Mumbai, India).
The funded research studies cover a wide range of topics for projects seeking to better understand treatment in orthodontics and dentistry including: Orthodontic Induced Inflammatory Root Resorption (OIIRR); composite material of attachments; clear aligners in elderly populations; oral impacts of Invisalign treatment vs fixed lingual appliances; gingival crevicular fluid; Invisalign clear aligners plus iTero scanning and CBCTs; shorter treatment time; Invisalign G6; and demineralization with fixed versus Invisalign treatment.
According to the company, all award applications received were reviewed and prioritized by an independent academic committee in a blind evaluation, with the final recipients determined by Align Technology.
