CDM Professor is Recipient of Research Grant
Dr. Karim El Kholy, associate professor at the division of Periodontics at Columbia University’s College of Dental Medicine, has been named the 2024 recipient of the Colin Richman Family Perio-Ortho Award, which is given by the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) Foundation. Recipients of the award receive $20,000 to fund research.
The AAP Foundation invites proposals that demonstrate innovative ways to combine periodontal therapy with orthodontic treatment to enhance multidisciplinary Perio-Ortho treatment and minimize unwanted periodontic outcomes.
Dr. El Kholy’s proposal involves using modern imaging to study the impact of orthodontic tooth movement on remodeling of hard and soft supporting tissues around teeth during, and after orthodontic treatment.
“Until now,” says El Kholy, “the question of whether and when to send orthodontic patients to a periodontologist has been left to individual clinical experience.”
“Some clinicians prefer to intervene before orthodontic treatment begins. Some prefer to observe and intervene only if necessary. Some wait until orthodontic treatment is finished,” El Kholy says.
His proposed research seeks to predict the magnitude and nature of hard and soft tissue changes caused by orthodontic forces. He will collaborate on the research with Sunil Wadhwa DDS, PhD Leuman M. Waugh D.D.S. Professor of Orthodontics, and CDM’s chair of the Section of Growth and Development, Michele Skelton Giess, DDS, an orthodontic resident at CDM, and Anthony Sulvetta, ’25.
“There is enormous potential in collaborative research between dental divisions at CDM” El Kholy says. “We share a common curiosity in pursuing these projects.”
This is the first time Columbia University College of Dental Medicine has received this prestigious award by the American Academy of Periodontology, which honors Dr. Colin Richman, a periodontist with a passion for the interface between periodontology and orthodontics, a former professor at the Emory University School of Dentistry and a former clinical instructor at the University of Connecticut who is now a member of the faculty at the Georgia Health Sciences University.