YNGVE ERICSSON PRIZE
About the Award
The Swedish Patent Revenue Fund for Research in Preventive Odontology was established in 1963. Among several activities to support research in this field, the Fund every third year awards a major international prize named in honour of its founder and major donator, professor Yngve Ericsson, one of the founders of ORCA.
The recipient should be an eminent researcher in the field of preventive odontology. The Prize was instituted in 1986 in collaboration with the Swedish Medical Research Council. Beginning in 2010 the Prize has been awarded in collaboration with ORCA – the Organization for Caries Research.
Call for Nominations
The Patent Revenue Fund and ORCA herby solicit nominations for the 2025 Yngve Ericsson Prize.
The award for the year 2025 will be SEK 300,000 (approx. EUR 32,000) for one person and, if shared by two recipients, SEK 200,000 per person. The Prize winner(s) will be selected by a Prize Committee of distinguished scientists, three members of which are appointed by the Patent Revenue Fund and two members appointed by ORCA. The Prize is to be presented to the awardee(s) at the ORCA Congress in Leeds, UK, in July 2025.
The Prize is awarded to persons who have performed outstanding laboratory or clinical research that has contributed specifically to the prevention of dental and oral disease. Candidates are judged on the originality, quality and range of their scientific contributions as well as the range and clinical importance of the results. Individuals who are still active in research are preferred candidates.
No preference will be given to candidates from any country. A nomination should contain the name of the candidate and must be accompanied by a statement giving reasons why the candidate would be a worthy awardee, including a list of the candidate’s relevant scientific publications and a short CV.
Nominations of candidates must be received no later than February 1st, 2025 by the Secretary of the Patent Revenue Fund, Prof. Peter Lingström, Institute of Odontology, Box 450, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden. E-mail: peter.lingstrom@odontologi.gu.se.
2022 AWARDEE
Domenick Zero
Dr. Zero graduated from dental school in 1975 and obtained his MS degree in 1979. He was a faculty at the Eastman Dental Center and University of Rochester from 1976-1981 and again from 1988-1999, and from 1981-1985 at Virginia Commonwealth University. At the Eastern Dental Center, he was promoted to eventually serve as Program Director of Oral Sciences. In 1999 he joined the faculty at Indiana University School of Dentistry (IU) and has been there ever since. Dr. Zero is a strong leader and innovative researcher, pushing to support research, and promote and disseminate best evidence in preventive dentistry in education, dental practice, and public health. He was hired at IU to serve as Director of the Oral Health Research Institute (OHRI) following the OHRI’s founder, Dr. George Stookey.
He was hired at IU to serve as Director of the Oral Health Research Institute (OHRI) following the OHRI’s founder, Dr. George Stookey. The OHRI was founded to support research in preventive dentistry after the development of an effective fluoride toothpaste in the mid 20th century and selling of this patent to Procter and Gamble. The OHRI depends on research grants for its operation, and Dr. Zero successfully led it from 1999-2021. In addition, recognizing that research advances need to translate to dental care to impact health, he pushed for the creation of the Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry at the IU School of Dentistry and served as its first chair from 1999-2013. This provided an education and service component to the original research mission of the OHRI. Further, because of his success in preventive dentistry, from 2002-2013 he served as Associate Dean for Research at the IU School of Dentistry helping foster and promote research excellence at the School level. Dr. Zero is still very active and since 2009 he has held an additional appointment in the Graduate Faculty at Purdue University, a special appointment based on the nomination of the Department of Foods and Nutrition.
Throughout his long, productive career he has served on many important roles that have helped promote research, education and community based preventive strategies in the U.S and the world. Examples of these positions include: Member of the Dental Products Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Member of the American Dental Association (ADA) Expert Panel on Professionally Applied Topical Fluoride, Member of the Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation Clinical Practice Guidelines Oral Working Group, Member of the Steering Committee and Working Group of ADA Evidence-based Clinical Recommendations on Non-fluoride caries preventive agents, Member of the ADA Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry’s Expert Panel for the ADA Clinical Practice Guideline on Caries Management, Chair of the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) Clinical Study Oversight Committee for Dental Genetics Studies, Founding Board Member of the American Academy of Cariology and Chair of its Advocacy and Support Pillar, Founding Member of the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) Foundation Board, Member of the Johnson & Johnson Oral Care Advisory Board, Member of the Alliance for a Caries Free Future (ACFF) ‘Making Cavities History’ Taskforce Core Group, etc.
Dr. Zero has also led a very productive and innovative research program in preventive dentistry with a focus on caries and dental erosion. He has received over 185 grants from federal and industry sources during his career, mostly as a principal investigator, and worth millions of dollars. This work has resulted in 19 book chapters, and 144 publications, many in high-ranking journals. In fact, impressively his h-index is 64. His research efforts have been celebrated with multiple awards, including the National Research Service Award (1979), Michael G. Buonocore Prize – AADR Rochester Chapter (1979), and the Indiana University School of Dentistry Alumni Association Distinguished Faculty Award for Research (2007). Dr. Zero has successfully engaged in didactic and research teaching at the institutions he has been a part of. He has also been an extremely active mentor, helping promote and support the career development of many individuals in preventive dentistry.
Dr. Zero holds an impressive service record, providing extensive contributions to the profession serving as grant reviewer for multiple journals, as well as organizations both nationally (e.g., NIH) and internationally (e.g., Health research Council of New Zealand, The Hospital for Sick Children Foundation in Toronto, Canada; the UK Medical Research Council; the Israel Binational Science Foundation, etc). He has been a long-time member of ORCA, and has served on multiple leadership roles within the AADR Rochester Chapter, IADR Cariology group, the ADA, NIH, etc. As a testament to his recognized expertise and contributions he has been invited to give over 250 talks worldwide.