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  Robert Genco

By SARA SALDI

Published: July 30, 2012

Robert J. Genco, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the UB Department of Periodontics and Endodontics, and vice provost and director of the university’s Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach (STOR), is the recipient of the American Academy of Periodontology’s (AAP) Distinguished Scientist Award for 2012.

The AAP Distinguished Scientist Award is presented to an academy member who has actively contributed to the basic science and/or clinical science of periodontology through published literature and has contributed to pre- and postdoctoral education.

Genco received the award in recognition of more than three decades of research, scholarship and service that has contributed to the understanding, prevention and treatment of periodontal disease.

“I am pleased and humbled by this recognition,” Genco said. “I have had a long and fruitful association with the American Academy of Periodontology and to be honored by them is a highlight of my career. It is also recognition of the many colleagues I have had the honor of working with at UB and other universities.”

The AAP, founded in 1914, is an 8,000-member association of dental professionals specializing in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases affecting the gums and supporting structures of the teeth.

Michael L. Glick, dean of the School of Dental Medicine, said the award to Genco was “well-deserved.”

“His contributions to the University at Buffalo and the oral health community are immeasurable and continue to inspire researchers across the globe to pursue new discoveries that define excellence while improving quality of life,” Glick said.

A 1963 graduate of the UB School of Dental Medicine, Genco received a PhD in microbiology and immunology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1967.

Chair of UB’s Department of Oral Biology for 25 years, as well as director of the Periodontal Disease Clinical Research Center, Genco and his colleagues were among the first to report a connection between gum disease and heart disease and stroke, and led studies relating periodontitis to diabetes mellitus and obesity.

Genco has held editorial positions with 11 scientific journals, edited or co-edited 10 books, and authored or co-authored more than 325 scientific articles and publications.

He is a past president of the American Association for Dental Research and the International Association of Dental Research.

Genco has been the primary investigator on multi-million-dollar grants from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, and editor of the Journal of Periodontology. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science.

When former UB President John B. Simpson named Genco interim provost in February 2004, he noted that Genco was “one of UB’s most distinguished professors, internationally recognized and highly regarded, both within his field and the UB community as an accomplished scientist and researcher.”

William V. Giannobile, chair of the Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, who nominated Genco for the award, called Genco “the ideal individual to be recognized for this award, given his tremendous dedication not only to the AAP, but to all of periodontology.”

Among Genco’s numerous awards are the American Dental Association’s (ADA) 2003 Norton M. Ross Award for Excellence in Clinical Research; the AAP Gold Medal (1993); ADA Gold Medal for Excellence in Dental Research (1991); Samuel P. Capen Award, the UB Alumni Association’s most prestigious award (1990); William J. Gies Foundation Award from the AAP (1983); and the George W. Thorn Award from the UB Alumni Association (1977).