Lisbon, 28 September 2019 – More than 4,500 participants from 88 countries took part in the European Association for Osseointegration (EAO) annual Congress this year.
The EAO Congress drew to a close on Saturday with a glittering awards ceremony celebrating cutting edge research in implant dentistry. Following three packed days of presentations, the EAO awarded seven prestigious European scientific prizes:
• European Prize for Basic Research in Implant Dentistry. Awarded to: Gabriel Magrin, Brazil
• European Prize for Clinical Research – Surgery. Awarded to: Elise Zuiderveld, Netherlands
• European Prize for Clinical Research – Prosthetics. Awarded to: Sven Mühlemann, Switzerland
• European Prize for European Prize for Clinical Research – Peri-implant Biology. Awarded to: Myroslav Solonko, Spain
• European Prize for Research in Implant Dentistry: Poster Presentation. Awarded to: Gian Maria Ragucci, Spain
• European Prize for Clinical Innovations in Implant Dentistry. Awarded to: Simone Cortellini, Belgium
• European Prize for Clinical Video on Implant Dentistry. Awarded to: Georg Mailath-Pokorny Jr., Austria

Four dentists also received the EAO’s prestigious Certificate in Implant-based Therapy. This followed their successful completion of an oral and written examination in Lisbon – the final stage of the certification process. The newly certified candidates are:
• Junya Hamaguchi, Japan
• Noboru Katayama, Japan
• Edoardo Magnanelli, Spain
• Andreia Simoes, Spain

Gil Alcoforado, chair of the congress, and co-chair Susana Noronha both received silver medals in recognition of their work in organising this year’s annual meeting. EAO Scientific Committee member and former congress co-chair Mariano Sanz was awarded a gold medal for exceptional service to the EAO.

Friedrich Neukam, past President of the EAO and former congress chair, was awarded honorary membership for his years of service to the EAO. This is the highest award that the EAO can confer and Dr Neukam joins the other six prestigious awardees who have received this recognition.

Following the annual General Assembly, the EAO is pleased to announce a new appointment to the EAO Board. Robert Haas joins from the Akademie für orale Implantologie in Vienna, Austria, and the association welcomes his contributions moving forward.
The EAO is also pleased to announce the addition of three new members to the Junior Committee. This group provides support and assistance to the EAO Board, and is responsible for developing new ideas and encouraging the younger generation of the international dental community. The newly appointed Junior Committee members are:
• Lucrezia Paterno Holtzman, Italy
• Nikolay Makarov, Russia
• Pavel Scarlat, Moldova/Switzerland

This year’s congress featured an exciting scientific programme and a number of new features. The EAO launched a new publication titled ‘Delphi Study – Horizon 2030: Identifying and predicting trends in implant dentistry in Europe’. 138 experts were invited to participate in the study, which involved completing a questionnaire of 60 open-ended questions. Their findings are summarised in the report and will help to predict future trends in implant dentistry. The EAO Channel was also a new addition this year. Over 10 hours of session footage was broadcast live and after the Congress EAO members will be able to watch footage from 30 sessions via the Online Library.

The EAO’s 29th annual scientific meeting will take place in Berlin, Germany, 8–10 October 2020. The meeting will be organised in cooperation with the German Association of Oral Implantology (DGI).

About EAO
The European Association for Osseointegration (EAO) was founded in the early 1990s and its aim is to ‘Bridge the gap between science and clinical practice’. It brings together researchers, scientists and dentists from around the world to discuss best practice in implant dentistry and promote cutting-edge research developments.

EAO website:http://www.eao.org
EAO congress website: www.eao-congress.com/en/
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YouTube: EAO Channel