Winners of Sunstar World Dental Hygienist Awards Announced

Sunstar America Inc recently revealed the winners of its fourth Annual Sunstar World Dental Hygienist Awards. This honor is bestowed upon dental hygienists who have significantly contributed to the profession’s body of science, patients, communities, and/or the general population. This year’s winners are Rebecca Barry, PhD, RDH, and Juliet Dang, PhD, MS, RDH, for research, and Sandy Kemper, RDH, BS, for the project category.

Barry, chair and professor in the Department of Dental Hygiene at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, told Dimensions, “I am honored that my research was selected for this award,” adding, “I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to Ann Esenhaur Spolarich, RDH, PhD. Her passion and enthusiasm inspire motivation to succeed.” Dang, director of brand development at Brand Institute and co-founder of Keiko DNA Labs, revealed that while she wasn’t sure that research was her “cup of tea,” she found great passion for such work and was fortunate to receive funding for her projects. This award was a great surprise, with Dang sharing, “I knew my thesis work was important, but I never thought I would win an award.” Kemper—founder of Smiles Forever, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to fighting poverty through educating young women to become dental hygienists in Bolivia—called the award “truly a great honor.” The awards will be presented at the International Symposium of Dental Hygiene 2016 in Basel, Switzerland, on June 24.

From Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. May 2016;14(05):23.