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Friends of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research Present the 2000 Annual Awards November 15, 2000 Press Announcement The Friends of the NIDCR honored four outstanding oral health advocates at their 2000 Gala Awards Dinner on October 23 in Washington, DC. Dr. D. Walter Cohen, President of the Friends of the NIDCR, welcomed the crowd of more than a 100 people attending the dinner and introduced Dr. Lawrence Tabak, the new NIDCR Director. Dr. Tabak, who was greeted enthusiastically, offered some "initial observations after the first seven weeks" since assuming the directorship September 1. U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher received the Friends' Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award for his long-standing commitment to public health and, in particular, for his leadership on the first-ever Surgeon General's report on oral health. In thanking the Friends of the NIDCR for the award, Dr. Satcher quoted one of his favorite poets, Robert Frost, in his remarks about the work yet to be done on behalf of oral health in our country. "We have 'miles to go before we sleep' to make oral health accessible to children, the elderly and the poor," stressed Dr. Satcher. Janet Crockett, first grade teacher at Shepherd Elementary School in Washington, DC, received the newly created DENTSPLY Harold Slavkin Oral Health Science Education Award for her outstanding work in field-testing the new NIDCR oral health curriculum supplement, "Open Wide and Trek Inside." Ms. Crockett reports that parents of this year's class have already begun questioning her about when their children will begin to participate in the program. Timothy Shriver, president and CEO of Special Olympics, Inc. received the Patient Advocacy Award for his innovative leadership with Special Olympics/Special Smiles, a program designed to bring oral health care to thousands of Special Olympics athletes. A highlight of the evening was hearing from Garrie Barnes, a Special Olympian, about the confidence she has gained from participating in Special Olympics/Special Smiles. The evening ended with a video from Jane Brody of The New York Times who received the first Media Award for Excellence for her many years of outstanding reporting on health issues, including those related to oral health. Ms. Brody, who was in Italy at the time of the Awards Gala noted that, "I have always been grateful that oral healthcare professionals have seen me as a partner and not a threat." She went on to describe the day she had her first root canal done and saw two articles she had written about the procedure for The New York Times framed on the dentist's wall! The evening celebrated the work accomplished in 2000 and energized all Friends of the NIDCR for the work ahead in 2001. |