2024 Dean’s Excellence Awards winners announced

Nine faculty members have been named recipients of the UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry Dean’s Excellence Awards for 2024.

David Fray, DDS, MBA; Daniel Harrington, PhD; Esther Kuyinu, DDS, MS; Tulsi Patel, RDH, MHA; Erin Potts, DDS; Daher Queiroz, DDS, MS, PhD; June Sadowsky, DDS, MPH; Jonathan Shum, DDS, MD; and Ben Warner, DDS, MD, MS, were honored for outstanding work in the categories of Application, Clinical Service, Integration, and Mentoring.

DEAN’S EXCELLENCE AWARD IN THE SCHOLARSHIP OF APPLICATION

“For aiding society and professions in addressing problems”

• Daher Queiroz, DDS, MS, PhD, assistant professor
  Department of Restorative Dentistry and Prosthodontics

Nominators’ Comments: He has made public his knowledge in publications and presentations locally, nationally, and internationally. He has been very productive in addition to his teaching load as a complete denture course director, Blue clinic pros leader, student mentor, and contributor to several preclinical and clinical courses. He has been very active in serving not only on School of Dentistry committees, but also as a Poster/Table Clinic Judge in and out of the dental school walls (McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, University of Houston, and Greater Houston Dental Society). He has shown commitment to his work and his students, always striving for excellence, and a role model for our students.

• David Fray, DDS, MBA, professor
  Department of General Practice and Dental Public Health
• June Sadowsky, DDS, MPH, professor
  Department of General Practice and Dental Public Health
• Ben Warner, DDS, MD, MS, professor
  Department of General Practice and Dental Public Health

Nominators’ Comments: They have been instrumental in the establishment and the continuing growth of MOSAIC at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry. MOSAIC represents a collaboration within the health profession that seeks to improve the quality of health care services for all, with special attention to the most vulnerable due to a cognitive disorder, physical limitation, chronic illness, or who are frail, elderly, medically complex, or in hospice care.

DEAN’S EXCELLENCE AWARD IN CLINICAL SERVICE

“In recognition of passion and exemplary dedication to patient care”

• Esther Kuyinu, DDS, MS, associate professor
  Department of Restorative Dentistry and Prosthodontics

Nominators’ Comments: Outstanding dedication to patient care and the advancement of clinical dentistry. She has helped her department educate and implement the Prosthodontic Diagnostic Index (PDI) at every clinic. She took empowerment on and placed it on another level. Her initiative was to go to the Office of Technology Services and Informatics, where she got the PDI in axiUm (our EHR system). Then, she spoke with every course director, and now it is taught at every pre-clinical prosthodontic course, plus every clinic twice a year. In addition, she developed a research project on how the DS3 and DS4 could utilize it before and after her intervention, and she even got the American College of Prosthodontics (ACP) to do a national survey on PDI utilization in private practice and academia.”

• Erin Potts, DDS, professor
  Department of General Practice and Dental Public Health

Nominators’ Comments: She really goes the “extra mile” to not only be considerate and compassionate, but she demonstrates true empathy with her patients. She takes time to understand the numerous challenges that her patients with disabilities or numerous serious chronic health issues (i.e., patients with recent organ transplants) face on a daily basis. In addition, she takes the time to coordinate financial challenges the patient may have with grant funds that may serve particular patient needs to help alleviate their burden and worry.

• Jonathan Shum, DDS, MD, professor
  Bernard and Gloria Pepper Katz Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Nominators’ Comments: He has done an outstanding job creating a head and neck oncology service and fellowship training program. This initiative has provided a mechanism for the dental community to refer patients suspected of oral and head and neck malignancy to our institution.

DEAN’S EXCELLENCE AWARD IN THE SCHOLARSHIP OF INTEGRATION

“For interpreting the use of knowledge across disciplines”

• Daniel Harrington, PhD, associate professor
  Department of Diagnostic and Biomedical Sciences

Nominators’ Comments: In summary, his multidisciplinary graduate training in materials engineering, chemical synthesis, cell culture, and clinical application was a harbinger for his later abilities as an independent PI. His creativity and insistence on innovation enhance the project trajectories in his own laboratory, as well as the career opportunities for his trainees. Those same skills are visible in his participation as a faculty member at the School of Dentistry and UTHealth Houston, and he applies them daily in his efforts at interdisciplinary integration.

DEAN’S EXCELLENCE AWARD IN MENTORING

“For demonstrating commitment to, and effectiveness in, faculty mentoring”

• Tulsi Patel, RDH, MHA
  Department of Periodontics and Dental Hygiene

Nominators’ Comments: Her mentorship extends beyond traditional roles; she embodies a leader who deeply commits to the development of her mentees. From the beginning of our academic careers, she has been a pivotal figure, offering guidance, support, and valuable insights that resonate with a wide range of faculty members, irrespective of their direct mentorship ties.