Alexandria, VA, USA, June 22, 2022 – The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) announced that Bart Van Meerbeek, University of Leuven, Belgium, is the recipient of the IADR Distinguished Service Award. Van Meerbeek was recognized during the Opening Ceremonies of the virtual 100th General Session & Exhibition of the IADR, held in conjunction with the 5th Meeting of the Asia Pacific Region on June 20-25, 2022.
Van Meerbeek obtained his DDS in 1988 and PhD in 1993 from KU Leuven, the University of Leuven in Belgium. He continued his research activity abroad for one year at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas, in the US and later at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. In 1995, he became an assistant professor at KU Leuven and has been teaching dental biomaterials science since then. In 1998 and 2002, he was promoted respectively to the position of associate professor and professor, and in 2005 to full professor. In August 2020, he was elected as chair of the KU Leuven Department of Oral Health Sciences, serving for four years.
His primary research interest involves studies related to the broad field of adhesive dentistry, including fundamental as well as clinical research regarding dental adhesive technology. Newer research lines deal with dental ceramics, cariogenicity, and biocompatibility of dental materials, bioactive materials, and pulp-preservation material technology.
His research work has been published in more than 400 peer-reviewed journals and has been honored with awards such as the 1996 triennial Robert Stock Award for best PhD dissertation in biomedical sciences, Albert Joachim Award in 1997, award in Biomedical Sciences of the Research Council of KU Leuven in 1998, IADR Young Research Award in 2000, SmithKline-Beecham Award in 2001, Academy of Operative Dentistry Buonocore Memorial Lecturer in 2003, CED-IADR (Continental European Division of IADR) Robert Frank Lecturer in 2008, 2014 IADR/AADOCR William J. Gies Award for the best 2014 JDR paper in the Biomaterials & Bioengineering Research category, and the 2015 IADR Wilmer Souder Award (IADR Distinguished Scientist award for Dental Materials). In 2003, he became holder of the Toshio Nakao Chair for Adhesive Dentistry. He was President of the Pan-European Federation of IADR in 2006 and 2007 and is currently serving as Secretary of the Continental European Division of IADR or CED-IADR. In September 2020, he became CED-IADR president. Since 2004, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Adhesive Dentistry.
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.
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About IADR
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 to advance health and well-being worldwide. To learn more, visit www.iadr.org.