Sunstar Foundation
Sunstar Foundation Celebrates Award-Winning Research at EuroPerio11
On May 16, 2025, at EuroPerio11 in Vienna, the Sunstar Foundation hosted the 2025 Sunstar Foundation Award Ceremony.
May 26, 2025
The 2025 winners of the World Perio Research Awards and the Perio Link Award were recognized for their groundbreaking research on the link between oral and systemic health. The event brought together the global scientific community to celebrate innovation and a shared commitment to improving health outcomes.
Advancing Global Oral-Systemic Health
Held every three years, the World Perio Research Awards (WPRA) honor top-tier research, with winners selected in collaboration with four of the most prestigious journals in periodontal science. This year’s awardees were honored for their significant contributions to deepening our understanding of how periodontal health influences overall well-being.
1st Place
Kevin Matthew Byrd, DDS, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Dr. Byrd was recognized for his research showing that SARS-CoV-2 infects oral tissues, especially salivary glands, a discovery with important implications for diagnostics and disease transmission during COVID-19.
2nd Place
Gregory Charles Valentine, MD MED FAAP
A neonatologist at the University of Washington, Dr. Valentine explored how periodontal health during pregnancy can reduce the risk of preterm birth and improve child development, especially in underserved communities.
3rd Place
Bei Wu, Ph.D.
A leading gerontologist, Dr. Wu’s longitudinal study revealed that edentulism and diabetes significantly accelerate cognitive decline in older adults, showing the vital role oral health plays in aging and brain health.
Making Research Accessible
The Perio Link™ Award (PLA), a newer but equally impactful initiative, celebrates researchers who can communicate the oral-systemic connection to a broader audience. Through short, public-facing video presentations, the award invites researchers to make their science accessible and actionable. Uniquely, the winner is chosen by public vote, underscoring Sunstar’s commitment to making science relevant beyond academia.
Award winner
MADELINE X.F. KOSHO, PHD
Periodontist and PhD candidate at ACTA (Amsterdam), Dr. Kosho’s winning research demonstrates how chair-side tests in dental clinics can detect patients at high cardiovascular risk, especially those with generalized periodontitis. Her findings showed that nearly 30% of these patients were at very high cardiovascular risk, compared to just 9.1% of healthy individuals, highlighting the vital role of dental professionals in early systemic disease detection.
