The 32nd Dentsply/BDA student clinician programme awards took place on 6 February 2009 with 13 teaching schools putting forward an entrant. Each student presented a piece of original research to the three adjudicators: Professor Nairn Wilson, Head of School and Dean of Kings College London Dental Institute and member of the BDJ Advisory Board; Dr John Drummond, Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant of Dundee Dental School and President-Elect BDA; and Professor Robbie McConnell, from the Department of Restorative Dentistry College of Medicine, Cork University Dental School.

The winners were announced during a black tie gala dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge hosted by Dr Linda Niessen, Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer of Dentsply International, and organised by the Dentsply UK Professional Support Team of Kate Caple and Simon Abbey.

The first prize of an all expenses paid trip to the American Dental Association (ADA) meeting in Honolulu in October went to Megan Cross of the University of Birmingham Dental School for her entry 'DNase activity within dental plaque and gingival crevicular fluid during a 21 day experimental model of gingivitis'. Megan will also become a member of SCADA - the Student Clinician Program of the ADA.

The Second prize of £500 went to Raheel Malik of Kings College London Dental Institute for his entry 'The role of the chemokine receptor 'CXCR4' in oral squamous cell carcinoma tumour cell biology'. The adjudicators' prize for professionalism throughout the presentation went to Gemma Walker of the University of Sheffield, School of Clinical Dentistry for her entry 'CT imaging and dental age estimation'.

The innovative Awards programme supports international undergraduate research and emphasises the continuous bond that exists between the profession and the dental industry. The programme focuses on original research providing an insight into all aspects of dentistry.

Past entries of the programme have commented on how appreciative they were to have the opportunity to be involved with research during their undergraduate studies. They felt this experience provided them with an invaluable eye-opener to wider career opportunities and truly emphasised the relevance of research to dental practice.

For information on the 2010 Dentsply/BDA Student Clinician Programme, please contact DENTSPLY on +44-(0)800-072-3313. http://www.dentsply.co.uk