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Brandon Breard, DDS, a third-year resident in our periodontics program was named winner of the 2023 John F. Prichard Graduate Research Competition in the Basic Science Category.

The Southwest Society of Periodontists’ 2023 John F. Prichard Graduate Research Competition had five judges, from residency programs as well as clinical judges, participating in the scoring of all submitted abstracts from eight participating residency programs in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Colorado. Based on this review, six abstracts were selected as finalists for oral presentation. Of those six selected, two were third-year residents in our School of Dentistry’s Advanced Education in Periodontics Program, Drs. Mashael Al Thunayan and Brandon Breard.

"As periodontic residents, we dedicate many hours to our research in order to further our knowledge in this field,” Breard said. “It was an honor to be able to present my research in Dallas this year and I am very proud to bring the John Prichard Graduate Research Award back to San Antonio!"

In January, judges heard oral presentations of the finalist abstracts to select the winners. Both our residents did an outstanding job in their presentations, competing in the same category, making the selection of a winner extremely difficult.

“I am honored to serve as a board member of the Southwest Society of Periodontists and can attest to the rigor of this competition and the difficulty the judges faced in selecting the finalists this and every year,” said Angela A. Palaiologou-Gallis, DDS, MS, professor and graduate program director, Department of Periodontics.

In addition to congratulating the work of our residents, recognition also goes to their mentor, Georgios A. Kotsakis, DDS, MS, who provided counsel and guidance throughout their projects.

Dr. Palaiologou-Gallis added, “Our residency is always highlighted for the high level of research completed and I received many positive comments on our work. But research is a team effort, and I would like to thank all our residents and their mentors for challenging the Prichard finalist selection process. Thank you to third-year residents, Drs. Julia Shelbourn and Kara Dunegan and their mentors, Drs. Brian Mealey and David Deas.”