Penn Dental Medicine periodontics resident Kang Ko (D’15, GD’20) was selected by the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) Foundation as a 2018 recipient of the AAP Educator Scholarship. The selection committee presented the award during the AAP Annual Meeting, held October 27-30 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The competitive AAP Educator Scholarships were created to stimulate the development of periodontal educators and are open to periodontal residents intending to pursue an academic career in periodontology upon graduation. The $25,000 scholarship goes toward financial relief for student loan reduction. All past recipients are teaching within periodontal programs throughout the country as full-time junior faculty members.

Dr. Ko is pursuing a DScD degree and has been conducting research in the lab of Dr. Dana Graves, professor of periodontics. The focus of Dr. Ko’s research is on investigating the mechanism behind diabetic complications on stem cells that participate in hard and soft tissue healing.

Dr. Ko was also a recipient of the 2018 Nobel Biocare Student Member Annual Meeting Scholarship, receiving a $500 scholarship toward travel costs associated with attending this year’s AAP annual meeting. He was one of 10 selected recipients.