Alexandria, VA, USA – The International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (IADR) has announced Hiroshi Ogawa as the 2026 recipient of the IADR Distinguished Service Award. Ogawa, from Niigata University, Japan was recognized during the Opening Ceremonies of the 104th General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and the 50th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research on March 25-28, 2026 in San Diego, CA, USA.
Ogawa is the Head of the Division of Preventive Dentistry and Vice Dean, Faculty of Dentistry, Niigata University. He was the Dental Officer of the World Health Organization (WHO) from 2014-17, with work and collaboration with the WHO spanning over 20 years including several collaborative relationships with the IADR. He has contributed to six WHO Technical Reports on elements of preventive oral health, including the 2022 report, “WHO Global Oral Health Status Report Towards Universal Health Coverage for Oral Health by 2030.”
Ogawa is currently an FDI World Dental Federation Councillor and Member of the FDI Advocacy Working Group. In 2017 and 2023 Ogawa served on the IADR World Congress of Preventive Dentistry Scientific Programme Committee, planning a key role in the success of these IADR meetings. He is one of the leading figures in preventive dentistry and his service has had a consistently global reach.
Sponsored by J. Morita Corporation, the IADR Distinguished Service Award was established by the IADR Board of Directors to recognize a member who has not served as an IADR Officer, but who has performed outstanding service to the Association or distinguished service over a period of time.
About IADR
The International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (IADR) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to drive dental, oral, and craniofacial research for health and well-being worldwide. IADR represents the individual scientists, clinician-scientists, dental professionals, and students based in academic, government, non-profit, and private-sector institutions who share our mission. Learn more at www.iadr.org.
