For his work to advance the science and practice of periodontics, Penn Dental Medicine periodontics resident and DScD candidate Dennis Sourvanos, GD’23, has received the 2021 American Association for Dental Research (AADR) William B. Clark Fellowship Award in Clinical Periodontal Research and has been selected to participate in the Perelman School of Medicine Institute for Translational Medicine Applied Therapeutics (ITMAT) Certificate Program in Translational Research and the Regulatory Sciences. Both build upon his goal of ultimately pursuing a career in academic dentistry and research.

“My long-term goal is to become an independent investigator in the academic setting, while playing a role with public policy initiatives,” said Dr. Sourvanos. “As a clinician scientist, one has the opportunity to make a direct tangible impact in the national and international arenas.”

Dr. Sourvanos, a student in the combined graduate periodontics and DScD program, has been active in research throughout his time at Penn Dental Medicine. His research co-mentors have developed a program focused on translational clinical research. He has worked under the mentorship of periodontics program director Joseph Fiorellini to help develop delivery protocols for novel biomaterials in the preclinical model, evaluating the effects of laser stimulation on dental implant osseointegration in the animal model, and analyzing implant geometries and subsequent effects of primary implant stability in the human model. 

“As a clinical interventionist in this trial, I have been able to expand upon my formal training in non-surgical and surgical periodontology, to further understand the mechanistic aspects of radiation-induced oral mucositis lesions,” noted Dr. Sourvanos.

The competitive AADR Grant Fellowship Award is designed to support a postdoctoral level researcher in pursuing clinical research to learn a state-of-the-art methodology in the field of oral health. Dr. Sourvanos was selected for a project titled “A Novel 3D Preclinical Model to Assess Efficacy of Photobiomodulation (PBM) on Alveolar Ridge Preservation, Subsequent Bone and Intraoral Tissues.” The project is a collaboration between the labs of Dr. Fiorellini and Patricia Corby at Penn Dental, and the Tim Zhu Lab at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. It is also the focus of Dr. Sourvanos’ research for the DScD program.