Press Releases

Announcing the IADR Newell W. Johnson Travel Award Endowment

Newell Travel AwardAlexandria, VA, USA – The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) is pleased to announce the IADR Newell W. Johnson Travel Award Endowment, named for longtime IADR member, Prof. Newell W. Johnson, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia.

The Newell W. Johnson Travel Award will assist new investigators residing in low- and middle-income countries to attend the IADR General Session & Exhibition. This travel award is designed to encourage new investigators to undertake research and to support their attendance at the IADR General Session & Exhibition for presentation of research in any of the IADR Scientific Group and Network research areas. The IADR uses the annual World Bank classification of countries by income to determine which countries are low- and middle-income.

In 2019, Prof. Johnson received the IADR Distinguished Scientist Award for Global Oral Health Research and made a very generous donation to start the IADR Newell W. Johnson Travel Award Endowment, which was approved by the IADR Board of Directors. The funding goal for the award endowment was reached with additional donations from IADR members and Prof. Johnson. One award will be granted each year and the recipient will receive $2,000 USD for expenses to attend the IADR General Session & Exhibition. The first award will be given in 2022.

Prof. Johnson is an Honorary Professor of Dental Research at the Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Australia, an Emeritus Professor at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia, and Emeritus Professor at King’s College London, England. His nearly 60 years of basic and translational research covers epidemiology, aetiology, pathogenesis, diagnostic markers, and the management of common and serious oral, head, and neck diseases, such as dental caries, periodontal diseases, head and neck cancer, and HIV/AIDS. Prof. Johnson strives to “put the mouth back in the body” and integrate this work with the rest of biomedicine, and with individual systemic, family, and population health aspects. This has led to improved diagnostic techniques and algorithms, and policy developments.

Prof. Johnson has spent extensive periods performing field research in both crowded cities and in rural and remote parts of the country in Australia, Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Papua New Guinea.

Prof. Johnson served as president of the IADR British Division (2004-05) and president of the IADR Oral Medicine and Pathology (2000-01).

"I have had a lifelong passion seeking to understand the causes, prevention, and cure of oral and maxillofacial diseases, recognizing that these occur in whole human beings, in families, in societies, and in cultures. As academics, we are privileged to be able to travel the globe in pursuit of such understandings, and in the hope of reducing disease burdens. Thus, I have been educated in many cultures and have developed deep friendships in every continent: I have many treasured memories,” said Prof. Johnson. “I hope this modest award will encourage new generations to live out a similar passion, taking their enthusiasm for science from home to the international fora provided by IADR meetings, where their data will be tested, and mentors and friends made for life."

“Newell’s prolific career has contributed substantially to help improve oral medicine and public health globally,” said IADR President Eric Reynolds, The University of Melbourne, Australia. “He exemplifies the IADR mission to drive dental, oral, and craniofacial research for health and well-being worldwide.”

For more information on the IADR Newell W. Johnson Travel Award, please contact Awards, Fellowships and Grants Coordinator Anthony Jones.


International Association for Dental Research

The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) is a nonprofit organization with over 10,000 individual members worldwide, with a mission to drive dental, oral and craniofacial research for health and well-being worldwide. To learn more, visit www.iadr.org.