The American Dental Education Association’s philanthropic arm, the ADEAGies Foundation, has announced its 2022 William J, Gies Awards for Vision, Innovation and Achievement. Among the recipients are the AAO Foundation and a member of the AAOF Planning and Awards Review Committee, Dr. Sylvia Frazier-Bowers.
The Gies Awards are named for dental education pioneer William J. Gies, PhD. The awards honor individuals and organizations that exemplify the highest standards in oral health and dental education, research and leadership.
About the AAO Foundation
The mission of the AAOF, the charitable arm of the AAO, is to advance the orthodontic specialty by supporting quality education and research that leads to excellence in patient care, and by promoting orthodontic charitable giving.
Foundation funding ensures the future viability of the specialty by investing in the next generation of educators and researchers. Since 1994, the AAO Foundation has contributed over $14.6 million to the orthodontic specialty through its education and research awards program.
In addition, the AAOF:
● Recently took on management, administration and fund-raising duties for the AAO members’ Disaster Relief Fund and the Donated Orthodontic Services program.
● Brought together nine of the eleven known collections of longitudinal craniofacial growth records in the United States and Canada, into the AAOF Craniofacial Growth Legacy Collection Project. This rich longitudinal record was compiled and studied by hundreds of investigators over more than 75 years. It is made available by the AAOF to the orthodontic specialty and other interested parties at no cost.
About Dr. Sylvia Frazier-Bowers
Dr. Frazier-Bowers’ individual Gies Award recognizes her efforts toward excellence in dental education consistent with the Gies Award stated values. In addition to her many contributions to the science of orthodontics, the ADEA Gies Award highlights Dr. Frazier-Bowers’ advancement of oral health, oral health equity and cultural competence.
An associate professor in the orthodontic residency program at the University of North Carolina, Dr. Frazier-Bowers also serves as assistant dean for inclusive excellence and equity initiatives for the UNC Adams School of Dentistry. She developed the Adams School DOCSpeaks© program, featuring Ted Talk-style lectures addressing learning and communication on cultural issues impacting health care.
A graduate of the UNC orthodontic residency program, Dr. Frazier-Bowers also received a PhD in genetics from the UNC School of Medicine. Her research interests include clinical management and genetic diagnosis of eruption disorders and Class III malocclusion.
A member of the AAO Foundation Planning and Awards Review Committee (PARC) since 2016, Dr. Frazier-Bowers is currently the vice-chair of the committee, which reviews proposals for AAOF research and education awards and then select recipients. She also serves on the Foundation’s Rapid Assessment of Evidence (RAE) panel. Any AAO member may ask the RAE panel to review evidence related to orthodontic supplier product claims and assess the validity of the claims.
Dr. Frazier-Bowers co-authored two RAE studies published by the AJO-DO during the past year, including one currently appearing online as an in press article, “American Association of Orthodontists Foundation Rapid Assessment of Evidence: SmileSonica, Inc, The Aevo System.
In addition, Dr. Frazier-Bowers is a past member and chair of the AAO Council on Scientific Affairs (COSA) and is the current chair of the AAO Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN).
