Student Research Recognized by American Academy of Oral & Maxillofacial Radiology

Hassan M. Khan (D’18), left, and Dr. Andrew Frazer (D’16), right, received the AAOMR’s 2016 Charles R. Morris Student Research Award.

Philadelphia — The research of third-year Penn Dental Medicine student Hassan M. Khan (D’18) was recognized by the American Academy of Oral & Maxillofacial Radiology (AAOMR) as a recipient of the AAOMR’s 2016 Charles R. Morris Student Research Award. The Award was presented earlier this fall during the 67th Annual Session of the AAOMR, held in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Khan was recognized along with recent alumnus Dr. Andrew Frazer (D’16) for their joint research paper titled “Orthodontic CBCT Evaluation of Spheno-Occipital Synchondrosis as a Measure of Chronological Age Compared with Cervical Vertebral Maturation and Third Molar Development.” As recipients of the award, Khan and Frazer presented their research paper at the Annual Session; their presentation also served as a one-credit continuing education course for practitioners in attendance.

The Charles R. Morris Student Research Award is designed to encourage new investigators, not yet professionally established, to participate in research to further knowledge in oral and maxillofacial radiology, to develop competency in research, and to gain insight into scientific investigation. The objective is to stimulate the scientific development of promising students and to encourage them to embark on a career in academic oral and maxillofacial radiology. Kahn is presently in the research honors program at Penn Dental Medicine.

Khan also made a poster presentation on the project and was one of only two DMD students invited to do so, presenting with radiology residents and faculty. Dr. Mel Mupparapu, Professor of Oral Medicine, was the principal investigator and Khan’s mentor on the project, and along with Dr. Mupparapu, other contributing authors on the project included Dr. Kathleen Boesze-Battaglia, Professor, Department of Biochemistry, and Dr. Michael Speirs, Lecturer, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology.