Stephanie Momeni, center, won First Prize for Graduate Student Oral Presentations at the 101st Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Branch of the American Society for Microbiology.Stephanie Momeni, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Biology and Dental Academic Research Training predoctoral fellow in UAB’s School of Dentistry, has been selected for two awards for her research in the past month.

Earlier this month, she won the First Prize for Graduate Student Oral Presentations at the 101st Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Branch of the American Society for Microbiology held November 13-15 at Kennesaw State University. She was up against 35 other oral presenters, and her presentation on “Commonality of Streptococcus mutans rep-PCR genotypes among Children and Household Family Members” won out.

Momeni also won the American Association of Dental Research (AADR) National Students Research Group’s (NSRG) President’s Award for Excellence in Research at the 21st Hinman Student Research Symposium held October 30-November 1 in Memphis, Tennessee. She was selected for the award out of 94 representatives from dental schools across the US and Canada.

Her project used genetic techniques to detect the presence of different serotypes of cariogenic bacteria in dental plaque and saliva from a group of African American children in a small town in Alabama. Her findings may have implications for the overall health of the children and their families. 

Momeni is mentored by Asim Bej, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Biology, and Noel Childers, DDS, Joseph F. Volker Endowed Chair and Chair of UAB’s Department of Pediatric Dentistry. The presented research was supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR).