2018 Quintessence Research Award - Kim Beaucage

K Beaucage with Dr. HamiltonDentistry's 2018 Quintessence Research Award was presented to Kim Beaucage, DDS 2018, on the recommendation of the Research Committee, following nomination by faculty supervisors.  This is an annual award to a graduating dental student who has been exemplary in research in the undergraduate dental program.

Dr. Doug Hamilton, Assistant Dean, Dentistry Research stated, “Kim has been awarded Summer Research Studentships for 3 years in a row, working with researchers such as Drs. Jeff Dixon, Cheryle Séguin, and David Holdsworth.  With this support Kim discovered and characterized ectopic calcification of the mandibular symphysis in mice lacking equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1. In 2015, Kim won the ADA Foundation Travel Award at the Dentistry Research Day Poster Presentations, enabling Kim to attend and present her research at the ADA Foundation 52nd Annual Dental Students’ Conference on Research in Bethesda, Maryland. Kim’s work has been presented at two international meetings and a manuscript based on these studies is currently in preparation for the Journal of Dental Research.”

Dr. Hamilton also commented on Kim’s contributions to research leadership as a dental undergraduate student. In 2015, Kim co-founded the highly successful Dental Academic Research Trainee (DART) Group. In this organization, Kim served as co-chancellor with duties that included organizing events relevant to dental research (e.g., speakers, workshops, seminars, networking occasions), chairing meetings of board members, communicating with faculty and students, facilitating collaboration among student research trainees in dentistry, and enhancing the profile of dental research at Western.