Dr. Emily Van Heukelom Wins National Research Award

Recent alum Emily Van Heukelom OMFS 09 was named the winner of the 2009 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) Straumann Resident Research Award for her research, “Antibiotic Therapy in Facial Fracture Treatment”.  The research is the first to measure outcomes of limiting antibiotic use in hospital-based facial trauma patients.

"This research evaluated the outcome of implementation of a protocol of strict/limited antibiotic administration in maxillofacial fracture patients," said Dr. Van Heukelom. "No significant increase in infection rate was noted following implementation of our protocol."

Associate Professor and Director of Residency Training Dr. Pushkar Mehra led the pilot study in coordination with attending staff from the Section of Trauma Surgery in the Department of General Surgery at Boston Medical Center.

The award encourages residents enrolled in accredited oral and maxillofacial surgery training programs to conduct and publish research. The AAOMS Committee on Continuing Education and Professional Development selects the winner(s), who receive a gift check for $2,000.

"I congratulate Dr. Van Heukelom both on her pursuit of research and her outstanding achievement of winning this award," said Dean Jeffrey Hutter. "I also thank Dr. Mehra for his leadership role in the study. The fact that residents from our School have won this award for the past two years speaks to the excellent caliber of education in our Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery."

Drs. Van Heukelom and Mehra will attend a dinner, scheduled as part of the 91st AAOMS Annual Meeting in Toronto this October, where Dr. Van Heukelom will receive her award.