Dr. Hardeep K. Chhatwal, third year resident in Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology, received the 2008 Dr. Robert J. Gorlin Memorial Award at the recently concluded International/American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology meeting held in San Francisco, Ca.
This award is given each year for the best scientific paper presentation by an oral pathology resident and includes a plaque and $500. This year’s award is particularly meaningful because it was given during the first joint meeting including both the American and International Associations of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathologists in 20 years. So competitors came from all over the world – not just the United States.
Chhatwal’s presentation was titled “Primary Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphomas of the Oral Cavity, Germinal Center Classification.”
Dr. Robert J. Gorlin was credited with identifying more than 100 syndromes and pioneering research in a wide range of disciplines, from oral pathology and craniofacial genetics to otolaryngology and obstetrics. Dr. Gorlin died Aug. 29, 2006, at the age of 83.
Gorlin was at the forefront of research in oral and maxillofacial pathology, genetic defects and syndromes, craniofacial disorders and hereditary hearing loss. Among the syndromes and diseases he identified were several that bear his name, including Gorlin’s cyst (calcifying odontogenic cyst) and Gorlin’s syndrome (nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome).