b'SCIENCE & INNOVATIONMeet the 2021 Balint Orban and Research Forum winnersIn the brief interviews below, recipients of the 2021 Balint Orban Memorial Competition and Research Forum Poster Competition awardsshare more about their winning research. Abstracts will be published in a future issue of the Journal or Periodontology. Riccardo Di Gianfilippo, DDS, MSWhat led you to pursue this research topic? Was there anything University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI that inspired your research?WinnerBasic ResearchThe two fields of science that most inspired our research are immune-Award, Balint Orban Memorialoncology and artificial intelligence. Our research borrowed from immune-Competition oncology a novel technique for deconvolution of local immune infiltrate Machine-Learned Deconvolution ofcalled FARDEEP. This allowed characterization of the peri-implant immune Peri-Implantitis Immunolandscapemicroenvironment with unprecedented resolution. As a next step, we Predicts Regenerative Treatment Outcome obtained large datasets that were analyzed by machine learning algorithms and helped to best understand the correlation between immune markers Can you briefly explain the results of your and clinical diagnostics.winning research? Lets imagine a future when, by simply analyzing a small sample of Peri-implantitis is a destructive diseaseperi-implant soft tissue, it is possible to accurately predict how long the initiated by dysbiotic biofilm and aggravated byimplant will remain healthy, if disease is present, anticipated outcomes immunopathophysiological mechanisms. Prediction ofafter disease treatment, and probability of relapse after treatment. The outcomes after treatment of peri-implantitis is limiteddescribed scenario might sound like science fiction to some, but it is with current diagnostics. Therefore, our group followedcloser than we think.longitudinally a cohort of patients treated for peri-implantitis to investigate their immunological and microbialWhat challenges did you face while conducting your research landscapes, and to develop novel diagnostics for predictingand how did you overcome them?treatment outcomes. The immune atlas of human peri- Analysis of big datasets and interpretation of obtained results were a bit implantitis was characterized and found dominated bychallenging. A significant effort was dedicated by the research team to macrophages, T cells, and B cells. Then, a machine- clean and interpret the data without overspeculation. The use of machine learning technology for deconvolution and clustering waslearning and the navigated experience of outstanding research mentors used to stratify the patients based on the peri-implantitiswere crucial to overcome these challenges. local immune microenvironment. For a subset of patients, the peri-implantitis immune landscape was dominatedThe exposure to scientific fields outside my area of knowledge was also by M1-like macrophages, elevated M1-like/M2-like ratio,challenging and turned out to be an excellent opportunity for growth and and T regulatory cells. The remaining patients had distinctself-improvement. Challenges are what make research interesting and profiles dominated by M2-like macrophages and B cells.overcoming them is what makes research meaningful.This clustering system, named immunoscore, predictedHow will winning this award affect your work going forward?clinical outcomes after surgical regenerative treatment of peri-implantitis, expression of gene regulators of theI feel honored to be selected as the recipient of the 2021 Balint Orban immune surveillance, and recolonization of microbialMemorial Award for Basic Science. This success provides great motivation pathogens. for a young periodontist-researcher like myself; now more than ever I AAP Periospectives| 40'