UB Dental Researchers Honored At Periodontology Meeting

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Two University at Buffalo dental researchers were honored for their contributions to the field of periodontology at the 80th meeting of the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP), held last month in San Francisco.

AAP has 6,600 members specializing in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of gum diseases, as well as the placement and maintenance of dental implants.

Russell J. Nisengard, D.D.S., Ph.D., an associate dean in the UB School of Dental Medicine and a Distinguished Teaching Professor, received the William J. Gies Periodontology Award.

The award is given by the William J. Gies Foundation for the Advancement of Dentistry, in conjunction with AAP.

A researcher for more than 25 years, Nisengard's work has focused on immunological aspects of gum disease.

He has authored or co-authored more than 100 scientific articles and textbook chapters, and three texts. A professor of periodontics and associate dean of research and advanced education in the dental school, he is editorial consultant to the Journal of Oral Pathology, the Journal of Periodontology and Periodontal Insights.

Nisengard received a dental degree and a doctorate in microbiology from UB.

He lives in North Buffalo.

Sebastian G. Ciancio, D.D.S., professor and chair of the Department of Periodontics, received a special citation as editor of Periodontal Insights, AAP's newest publication. The citation is funded by The Warner-Lambert Consumer Health Products Group.

Former president of AAP, Ciancio is nationally recognized as an authority on pharmacology in dentistry and also serves as editor of the bi-monthly newsletter "Biological Therapies in Dentistry."

He is a past winner of the Gies Award, and for more than two decades has been a member of, and consultant to, the American Dental Association's Council on Dental Therapeutics.

A graduate of the UB School of Dental Medicine, Ciancio resides in Eggertsville.