b'feel confident in advancing my research ideas to improve thebe the COVID-19 pandemic that halted everything for a while, and field of periodontics. Surely, I could not have accomplished thiswhen the world reopened, it complicated different aspects of our achievement by working alone. I owe this success to the patientstudy, such as patient recruitment, follow-up appointments, etc. In and knowledgeable mentors who guided me over this journey.the end, having a determined and supportive team is what pushed For me as well as for my research team, the Balint-Orban Awardthe study forward and maintained the quality and integrity of the is a positive reinforcement to further explore the applications ofresearch. machine learning technologies for personalized periodontics.How will winning this award affect your workShayan Barootchi, DMDgoing forward?University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI Just being among the finalists and having the opportunity to Winner - Clinical Science, Balintpresent our work at the Balint Orban Research competition is a Orban Memorial Competitiongreat honor. Certainly, winning the award is a unique and once in Platelet-Derived Growth Factor- a lifetime achievement. This has motivated me to keep on working Incorporated Xenogeneic Collagenhard and strive for conducting even more high-quality studies. Matrix for the Treatment of MultipleDespite all the challenges and hurdles that came along the way, it is Adjacent Gingival Recessions: A Triple- very rewarding to be acknowledged for the hard work that our team blinded, Randomized, Placebo-controlled Trial put toward this endeavor and to see that our work was appreciated Can you briefly explain the results of your winningin this way, especially at such a prestigious event. This is indeed a research? great source of encouragement. Gingival recessions are a common finding among theWhat advice would you give to up-and-coming population. Among the many available treatments, theperiodontists?autogenous connective tissue graft is currently known as theI feel that contemporary periodontics is moving along a path of gold standard. Nevertheless, the necessity of palatal harvestingminimizing invasiveness of our procedures and improving its also accompanies certain disadvantages, such as increasedsubjective and patient-centered outcomes. The impact of patients chair time, significant patient morbidity, and increased risk ofown perception of our treatments, including intra- and post-intra- and post-operative complications. Thus, biomaterials andoperative comfort, reducing surgical chair time (also for clinicians) autogenous graft substitutes have been set forth as alternatives;and the possibility of adverse events are crucial and will soon however, they have generally shown inferior results to the golddetermine even more the selection of our therapeutic approaches.standard autogenous graft. We designed a placebo-controlled, triple-blinded, randomizedShaima Bahammam, BDS clinical trial to assess if the addition of recombinant humanHarvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) to a xenogeneic cross- Winner - Basic Science, Research Forum linked collagen matrix could improve root coverage outcomes,Poster Competition compared to the collagen matrix alone. We found that soakingResolving Macrophages Regulate Adiposity the matrix with PDGF significantly enhanced the outcomes ofand Energy Expenditure on High-Fat Diet. root coverage for treating multiple adjacent gingival recession defects.Can you briefly explain the results of your winning research?This would be the first step into what could be a paradigm shift in the treatment of gingival recessions, and a path towardAs periodontists, it is important to understand the systemic risk exploring the combination of other biologics and biomaterials forfactors that contribute to the etiology of periodontitis. Two of their efficacy, in comparison with the gold standard autogenousthe proven risk factors are chronic hyperglycemia and obesity. graft.Multiple recent studies are focusing on understanding the role of innate immune cells in the resolution of the low-grade systemic What challenges did you face while conducting yourinflammation mediated by obesity. In our study, we wanted to research and how did you overcome them? understand the protective role of resolving macrophage on a I realized that conducting a clinical trial is about the details oftransgenic mouse model that overexpresses the Resolvin E1 how a study is carried out, and collectively defines the quality ofreceptor (ERV1). Resolvin E1 is one of the lipid mediators of the research. Even though my colleagues and I were fortunateinflammation resolution. We found that mice overexpressing EVR1 to be among a great team with supportive mentors, despite ourreceptor and female mice are protected from morbid obesity and thorough protocol preparation and detailed planning, I learned that some challenges can only show themselves along the way.Continued on page 42If I had to pinpoint a single event that suddenly emerged, it would AAP Periospectives| 41'