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Dean Jeffcoat Honored with PDA Recognition Award

April 16, 2008

Morton Amsterdam Dean Marjorie K. Jeffcoat has been honored by the Pennsylvania Dental Association (PDA) for her dedication to dental research and education as the 2008 recipient of the PDA Recognition Award. The award was presented during the PDA's 2008 Annual Session House of Delegates Meeting, held April 10 at Hotel Hershey, Hershey, Pa.

This prestigious award is presented annually to a dentist who has contributed original research, or whose significant achievements and high standards have been of such character as to have materially aided and advanced the science and art of dentistry; or whose public life and activities have been of such a nature as to reflect great credit upon the health profession.

Dr. Jeffcoat was unanimously nominated for the award by the Philadelphia County Dental Society Board of Governors and selected by the Annual Awards Committee of the PDA, made up of five immediate past presidents of the PDA. "The PDA is pleased to honor Dr. Jeffcoat with the esteemed 2008 Recognition Award and commends her for her long-time dedication to the fields of teaching and research in the dental profession," noted a PDA spokesperson.

Dr. Jeffcoat career as an educator and researcher has been distinguished with a variety of leadership roles. Having held the Deanship at Penn Dental Medicine since 2003, Dr. Jeffcoat is a member of the National Institutes of Health-NIDCR Advisory Committee for Research on Women's Health and has also served on the editorial boards of a number of professional research journals, including the Journal of the American Dental Association for which she was the first women to hold the position of editor. Prior to joining Penn Dental Medicine, Dr. Jeffcoat served as Assistant Dean of Research and Professor and Chair of the Department of Periodontics at the University of Alabama School of Dentistry. While at Alabama, she was also a Professor of Biomedical Engineering, held the James Rosen Endowed Chair of Dental Research, and served as Interim Chair for the Department of Oral Biology. A graduate of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, she also taught periodontology there for 10 years. Dr. Jeffcoat is a member of the Institute of Medicine, the International College of Dentists, and a past president of the Academy of Osseointegration, the American Association for Dental Research, and the International Association for Dental Research.

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