Five University of Florida College of Dentistry faculty members are recipients of scholarships from the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) for upcoming professional development opportunities through the ADEA and the Academy for Academic Leadership in 2017.
Dr. Abi Adewumi, Dr. Monica Fernandez, Dr. Olga Luaces, Dr. Patricia Pereira and Dr. Ana Dias Ribeiro each earned 2017 ADEA/AAL Faculty of Color Tuition Scholarships. The five women will be formally presented their scholarship awards at the 2017 ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition in Long Beach, California, Monday, March 20, while their respective professional development programs will take place during the summer and fall of 2017.
The ADEA/AAL Faculty of Color Tuition Scholarships for Professional Development encourage and foster the development of faculty of color in academic dental careers. Supported by the ADEA Gies Foundation and AAL, each scholarship covers the cost of tuition for each program.
Florida’s scholarship recipients will participate in three different programs: the Chairs and Academic Administrators Management Program, the Compass Program for Academic Advancement and programming with the Institute for Teaching and Learning (ITL).
Abi Adewumi, B.D.S., F.D.S.R.C.S. | Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pediatric Dentistry
- Scholarship: ADEA/AAL Chairs and Academic Administrators Management Program
- August 10-12, 2017
Dr. Adewumi earned her dental degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Prior to coming to UF, Adewumi served as a specialist registrar in pediatric dentistry at St. George’s Hospital, King’s Dental Institute, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.
She also earned her master’s degree in pediatric dentistry from the University of London. She is a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal College of Physicians of Glasgow, Scotland.
Adewumi’s research interests include dental traumatology, aesthetic dentistry for children, and law and ethics in dentistry.
Monica Fernandez, D.D.S., M.S. | Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Restorative Dental Sciences, Division of Prosthodontics
- Scholarship: ADEA/AAL Institute for Teaching and Learning (ITL)
- Two phases August 17-19 and October 16-18 in Atlanta
Dr. Fernandez joined the University of Florida College of Dentistry) in 2010 as Clinical Assistant Professor in the Division of Prosthodontics. Dr. Fernandez earned her bachelor’s degree in 1987 in Uruguay; her D.D.S. in 1998 from Facultad de Odontologia de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay in, Uruguay; completed specialty training in prosthodontics at IUSD in 2007 and obtained her M.S. in 2008 from IUSD.
Dr. Fernandez’s clinical activities are concentrated in the area of prosthodontics where she has taught didactic and clinical courses to students in second, third and fourth year of the DMD curriculum. Her clinical interest is in complex oral rehabilitation, implants, and cosmetic dentistry as well as removable partial and complete dentures. Dr. Fernandez research has focused on implant prosthodontics and digital denture fabrication using CAD/CAM technology. She won the American College of Prosthodontists Education Foundation Research Fellowship Award in 2006 for her thesis project titled “A comparative study of the accuracy of plastic impression transfer copings for implant restorations”. She also received The Carl and Ida Andres Scholarship Award for clinical excellence in 2007, and the Delta Dental Foundation’s Research Award in 2008.
Olga Luaces, D.M.D. | Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Science
- Scholarship: ADEA/AAL Compass Program for Academic Advancement
- Scholarship for an online program meant to provide early and mid-career faculty with guidance on three primary topics: conducting educational research, writing grant applications and publishing articles and reports
- Online presentations are September 7, 14, 21 and 28, 2017
Dr. Olga Luaces is an adjunct clinical assistant professor in the department of Community Dentistry. Luaces earned both her bachelor’s degree and her D.M.D. (2015) from the University of Florida. As a second-year dental student in 2013, Luaces was a recipient of the $2,500 ADEA/Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Products Preventative Dentistry Scholarship, awarded to 12 predoctoral dental students who demonstrated academic excellence in preventative dentistry.
During her studies in dental school, Luaces was additionally one of three D.M.D. students selected to participate in the ADEA Gies Foundation/AADR Academic Dental Careers Fellowship Program, which provided dental and allied dental students at U.S. and Canadian institutions an opportunity to experience the benefits and rewards of teaching an academic career.
Patricia N. R. Pereira, D.D.S., Ph.D. | Associate Professor, Department of Restorative Dental Sciences, Division of Operative Dentistry
- Scholarship: ADEA/AAL Chairs and Academic Administrators Management Program
- August 10-12, 2017
Dr. Patricia Pereira received her D.D.S. degree from Brazil, a Ph.D. degree and Post-doctoral training in Operative Dentistry from Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan. Dr. Pereira was an assistant Professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for six years, then professor at the University of Brasilia, Brazil, and joined the Division of Operative Dentistry at University of Florida in July 2015.
Dr. Pereira has devoted her private practice to cosmetic and esthetic dentistry, involving direct and indirect bonded restorations.
Dr. Pereira is a member of various professional national and international organizations, and serves on editorial boards of international journals. She has also published over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and presented many scientific papers and continuing education courses, both nationally and internationally.
Ana Paula Dias Ribeiro, D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D. | Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Restorative Dental Sciences, Division of Operative Dentistry
- Scholarship: ADEA/AAL Institute for Teaching and Learning (ITL)
- Two phases August 17-19 and October 16-18 in Atlanta
Dr. Ana Ribeiro received her dental degree from the University of Brasilia, Brazil, in 2006. She earned her master’s, doctorate and a certificate in oral rehabilitation from Sao Paulo State University-UNESP. She became a tenured professor in the University of Brasilia’s department of dentistry in 2012 before joining the faculty of the UF department of restorative dental sciences in the operative dentistry division as a clinical assistant professor.
Dr. Ribeiro is actively involved in dental materials research in the area of adhesives, caries management and minimally-invasive dentistry involving direct and indirect adhesive procedures.
She is a member of various professional national and international organizations, and is a reviewer of international journals. She has also published over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles and presented many scientific papers and continuing education courses.