August 30, 2022
Dr. Alireza Sadr Receives Major International Research Honor
Dr. Ali Sadr, associate professor in the Department of Restorative Dentistry at the UW School of Dentistry, received the 2022 International Association for Dental Research Dental Materials Mid-Career Award.
The award was announced during the virtual Opening Ceremonies of the 100th Annual General Session & Exhibition of IADR/APR on June 22, 2022.
This award, named after Stephen C Bayne, recognizes researchers who have demonstrated significant contribution to the science and application of dental materials research by their mid‐career.
Dr. Sadr holds a DDS from the Shaheed Beheshti (National) University of Iran and a PhD and advanced training in Cariology and Operative Dentistry from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU).
After completing his PhD in 2008 with a full MEXT scholarship, Dr. Sadr joined the Global Center of Excellence for Tooth and Bone Research in Tokyo as a faculty member to mentor TMDU PhD students. He gradually expanded the scope of his research activities from resin-based materials to dental tissue de/remineralization, caries prevention and diagnostic imaging.
Dr. Sadr made a key contribution in the field of material science by developing an innovative method for evaluation of material-tissue interfaces and defects using optical coherence tomography (OCT). OCT is a non-invasive cross-sectional imaging modality based on the backscatter of coherent light (laser) from structures, similar to ultrasonic imaging. The dental research on OCT was mainly focused on diagnosis of dental caries. Dr. Sadr realized that there was an opportunity for interdisciplinary research using OCT imaging to answer some of the most important questions on the relevance of dental material research to the practice of dentistry. He demonstrated how composite dental fillings or bonded restorations, the most common type of fillings in the world today, could improve. Dr. Sadr worked on developing the OCT experiments to understand how the polymerization process affected the material and the tooth, and how to get well-sealed restorations while managing the stresses.
Dr. Sadr joined UW SOD and B4T Research Lab in 2015. His advice on research and development of restorative dental materials have been applied by major manufacturers in the field, and brought several sponsored research projects to B4T. Dr. Sadr has been an IADR member since 2004 and has presented those findings with his research team more than 120 times at various IADR/AADOCR meetings. They have published over 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts that have been cited at least 7,000 times in the literature as of 2022.
Dr. Sadr is currently the director of research and vice chair of the Department of Restorative Dentisry. He also directs 5 preclinical operative dentistry courses in SOD, and the students have recognized him with a Faculty Teaching Award three times in a row since 2019. He continues to mentor predoctoral and graduate students in research at SOD in research projects focusing on minimally invasive structural adhesive dentistry, clinical research on diagnosis of crack tooth using OCT and its treatment using fiber-reinforced dental composites.
Dr. Sadr has is a member of the Academy of Operative Dentistry, Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Biomimetic Dentistry and Secretary General of the International Academy for Adhesive Dentistry.
The award is one of IADR’s highest honors in the field of dental materials research, requires a minimum of five years beyond obtaining a PhD and at least a record of research presentations at IADR Dental Materials Group-sponsored programs.
