ASOFRE is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Milton R Sims and Elsdon Storey Research Awards.
Milton R Sims Award – Robert Wei
Congratulations to this year’s winner of the Milton R Sims Award for the most meritorious student in the two years preceding Congress, Robert Wei.
Hailing from Toronto, Robert completed his Bachelor of Dental Science degree with honours and his specialist training at the University of Melbourne. Since becoming a registered orthodontist in 2018, he now practices in Canberra and remains active in teaching orthodontics to Doctor of Dental Surgery students at the University of Melbourne.
Robert says that he is immensely proud and humbled to be this year’s recipient of the Milton R Sims Award.
“Winning this award represents a collective effort from my fellow postgraduates, clinical instructors and academic staff at the University of Melbourne, as well as those at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Royal Children’s Hospital of Melbourne.
“There are very few awards which reflect the dedication of the teaching staff and associated clinical staff in our profession. I applied for this award because I thought it would be nice for our program to be recognised.”
The criteria for the Award falls into three components: research, academic and clinical. To fulfill the research component, Robert submitted his thesis, which is currently in the process of being published in the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, expected later this year.
“As a part of my thesis, I was given the opportunity to spend a month at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor learning how to perform mandibular 3-dimensional regional superimpositions in adolescent subjects. I want to thank Drs Cevidanes and Ruellas as well as the orthodontic residents at the University of Michigan for making my time there such a positive experience.
“In my thesis, we sought to elucidate the orthopaedic condylar effects in two-phase Herbst appliance treatment in comparison to single-phase treatment with Class II elastics using cone-beam computed tomography.
“There is not a day that goes by where I am not thankful for the opportunity to train at the University of Melbourne. Although I now practice in Canberra, I am hopeful and confident that in time I will be able to give back to both the profession and the University of Melbourne.”
The prize for the Milton R Sims Award is $5000, generously sponsored by Ormco. This is a biennial award and will be offered again in 2022.
Elsdon Storey Award – Jessica Yeo
Congratulations to this year’s winner of the Elsdon Storey Research Award for the most meritorious research paper, Jessica Yeo.
Jessica was born and raised in Singapore and her family moved to Brisbane when she was in secondary school. Jessica completed her undergraduate dental degree at Griffith University, and inspired by her personal experience of undergoing orthognathic surgery, she decided to pursue her dream of being an orthodontist and completed the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry in Orthodontics at the University of Sydney.
Jessica says she was pleasantly surprised to be this year’s winner of the Elsdon Storey Research Award and is thankful to her professors and the University of Sydney for making her research possible.
“I am very thankful to my brilliant supervisors Professor Ali Darendeliler, Dr Oyku Dalci and Dr Alexandra Papadopoulou for their incredible support and guidance, Dr Kerem Dalci for his invaluable help in statistical analysis, as well as all the postgraduate students at the University of Sydney who made this research possible.
“This prospective clinical study conducted at the University of Sydney investigated the effects of Hybrid-Hyrax and tooth-borne lower lingual arch using Class III elastics alone to correct skeletal Class III in comparison to conventional RME/facemask protocol.
“Sixteen patients between 11-14 years old with skeletal III malocclusion with retrusive maxilla were treated with Hybrid-Hyrax appliance supported by two 2x9mm palatal TADs and a lower lingual arch. They followed the alternate rapid maxillary expansion and constriction (Alt-RAMEC) protocol of 0.5mm/day for 9 weeks, intraoral Class III elastics of 150-250g per side applied from the third week, and reviewed for 6 months until a positive overjet of 3mm and overcorrection of the Class III malocclusion was achieved.
“Skeletal, dental and soft tissue effects were analysed from pre-treatment (T1) and post-treatment (T2) lateral cephalograms generated from CBCT imaging. These results were compared with a matched group of patients treated with RME/facemask from the University of Ankara.”
So when can we expect to see this research published? Jessica says, “We are currently working on a submission to AJODO.”
The Award is offered annually and applications close 30 November each year.
For more information about ASOFRE Awards, click HERE.
