The OKU-Sutro Excellence Day Committee recognizes the following 2025 awardees.
Biomedical Research — 1st Place
Analyzing Salivary Statherin Concentration as a Marker for Overall Oral Health
Justin Wu,DDS2026, Rakesh Reddy, DDS 2026, Kaitlyn Tonnu, DDS 2026, Dr. Der Thor, PhD
Biomedical Research — 2nd Place
Systemic Immune Dysregulation in Chronic Periodontitis: A Mass Cytometry Study
Alice Lin DDS 2026, Nicole Thompson DDS 2026; Zaizhen Xu, DDS 2025
OKU Past President Clinical Research Award Group 1 — 1st Place
Impact of Ontogeny on Pediatric Inferior Alveolar Nerve Blocks
Ju Yeon (Jamie) Park, DDS 2026
OKU Past President Clinical Research Award Group 1 — 2nd Place
Evaluating the Stability of Transverse Treatment Changes in Clear Aligner Mixed Dentition Patients
Grace Wee, DDS 2026; Oliva Stone, DDS 2026
OKU Past President Clinical Research Award Group 2 — 1st Place
Public Awareness and Understanding of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
Yoonsun (Sunny) Jang, IDS 2025; Lina Eltahir; Riya Brahmbhatt; Shradhdha Trivedi; Heeyeon Suh; Heesoo Oh
OKU Past President Clinical Research Award Group 2 — 2nd Place
Evaluating Wear Properties of 3D Printed Crown Materials in Comparison to Conventional Crown Materials
David Wong, DDS 2026; Cindy Liu, DDS 2026
Educational Research — 1st Place
Advancing Dental Education through 3D-printed Models
Yoonsun (Sunny) Jang, IDS 2025; Nazgol Zamanian, IDS 2025; Dr. Priya Prasannakumar
Educational Research — 2nd Place
Efficacy of Using 3D Anatomy Software in Human Anatomy Courses for Dental Students
Brendan Tuholski, DDS2027; Aline Souza, PhD; Homer Asadi, DDS; Cassio Almeida-da-Silva, PhD.
First Year DDS Pre-Clinical Award — 1st Place
Simulated Complex Patient Case
Nathan Nguyen, DDS 2027
First Year DDS Pre-Clinical Award — 2nd Place
Simulated Complex Patient Case
Melia Moran, DDS 2027
First Year IDS Literature Review Award — 1st Place
Zirconia VS PFM in Long-Span Bridges
Ali Karimi, IDS 2026, Ivashpreet Kaur, IDS 2026, Julie Lawrence, IDS 2026
First Year IDS Literature Review Award — 2nd Place
From Trauma to Triumph: The Vital Pulp Journey Materials used and Success of Direct and Indirect Pulp Capping
Anjali Raheja, IDS 2026; Swetha Sabbineni, IDS 2026
OKU Community Health Service & Leadership Award — 1st Place
Bright Smiles, Healthy Futures: Championing Dental Health Awareness for Kids
Krishna Priya Upadrasta, IDS 2026
OKU Community Health Service & Leadership Award- 2nd Place
Bridging Pathways and Advancing Access: A Pilot Project for Veterans’ Health and Wellness at Dugoni Dental School
Isabella (Izzy) Razmi, DDS 2026; Joseph Bernard Monzon, DDS 2025
OKU Clinical Endodontics Award — 1st Place
Seeing Beyond the Surface: The Role of CBCT in Endodontic Precision and Education
Jihun Han, DDS 2025; Taylor Grace Lam, DDS 2025
OKU Implant Dentistry Award — 1st Place
Temporary Modification of a Mandibular Implant Supported Overdenture for the Treatment of Salivary Duct Dysfunction
Emily Katherine Shu, DDS 2025
OKU Implant Dentistry Award — 2nd Place
From Theory to Practice: Students in Implant Surgery
Ruth Cristiana Rauca, DDS 2025; Ryan Schultz, DDS 2025; Aaron Levy, DDS 2025
OKU ODTP Award — 1st Place
Comprehensive Dental Treatment Plan: Oral Rehabilitation with Extractions, Upper Denture & Lower Partial Utilizing Survey Crowns
Rachel Wasyluka, DDS 2026
OKU ODTP Award — 2nd Place
Restoring Function and Form: Managing Advanced Caries and Edentulism Through Interdisciplinary Treatment Planning
Brianna Alexis Wolfe, DDS 2025
OKU Removable Prosthodontics Award — 1st Place
Reviving Youth and Restoring Health: The Functional and Esthetic Power of Conventional Removable Prosthodontics
Zane Druce Bollwinkel, DDS 2025
OKU Removable Prosthodontics Award — 2nd Place
All-on-X Implants vs. Failing Overdentures: A Journey to Full-Arch Rehabilitation
Nafiseh Ghafouri, DDS 2025
OKU Restorative (Direct/Indirect) Award — 1st Place
GERD-Eroded Smile Reimagined: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Restoring Function and Esthetic
Jason Tae Song, DDS 2025
OKU Restorative (Direct/Indirect) Award — 2nd Place
Full Mouth Reconstruction with 4 Anterior Emax Crowns and Auto-transplantation.
YongWoo Lim, DDS 2025
Personalized Instructional Program Bench/Clinical Research Award — 1st Place
Breastfeeding of Infants with Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate
Shaila Patel, DDS 2025; Aarthy Gunasekaran, Visiting Research Scholar; Marie Tolarova, Department of Orthodontics
Personalized Instructional Program Bench/Clinical Research Award — 2nd Place
Factors Affecting the Progression of Oral Potentially Malignant Lesions to Malignancy
Bianca Maria Rocha, DH 2025; Luisa A. Cayasso, DH 2025
Personalized Instructional Program Teaching Material Creation Award — 1st Place
Post-Operative Instructions
Gurleen Kaur Gill, DDS 2025; Victoria Gorelik, DDS 2025
Personalized Instructional Program Teaching Material Creation Award — 2nd Place
Head and Neck Anatomy Online Educational Resources
Tiffany Hoang, DDS 2026; Kaitlyn Nguyen-Ngo, DDS 2026; Tyler Villar, DDS 2026; Arya Mofidi, DDS 2026; Cassio Almeida-da-Silva, PhD; Homer Asadi, DDS; Aline Moreira-Souza, MS, PhD