2021
A/Prof Vinicius Rosa, Vice Dean (Research), NUS Faculty of Dentistry has been conferred two awards by the International Association of Dental Research (IADR) for his significant contributions to the science and application of dental materials research. The two awards are the Distinguished Scientist Young Investigator Award & the Stephen Bayne Mid-Career Award by the Dental Materials Group (DMG).
A/Prof Vinicius Rosa, also from NUS Materials Science and Engineering and Centre for Advanced 2D Materials, is known for his seminal work in developing atomically thin materials for biomedical applications. He pioneered the development of atom-thick coatings to improve bone formation, and decrease biofilms formation and corrosion on implantable dental materials.
A prolific researcher and innovator, he has developed ground-breaking technologies that address long-standing gaps faced by the dental field. Last December, he co-invented the Dental Droplet and Aerosol Reducing Tent (Dental DART), a foldable tent-like device that serves as a barrier to protect dentists, nurses and patients from direct and indirect exposure to infectious diseases such as COVID-19. In 2018, he created human odontoblasts (dentin-forming cells on the teeth) from induced pluripotent stem cells, making them suitable candidates for testing the safety and efficacy of dental materials. His contributions are far-reaching and will continually push the bar in frontier research and educating students to solve the problems of the future.