2025 NOF Hatton Awards to Merve Üçtaşlı (University of Turku, Finland) and Kazi Shefaul Mulk Shawrob (University of Oslo, Norway)

2025 NOF Hatton award winners are announced during the opening ceremony of the 2025 IADR General Session&Exhibition, which was held in Barcelona, Spain during June 25-28. Two winners, Merve Üçtaşlı (University of Turku, Finland) and Kazi Shefaul Mulk Shawrob (University of Oslo, Norway) will represent NOF in the IADR Hatton award competition, which will be held in conjunction with the 2026 IADR/AADOCR/CADR General Session&Exhibition, which will be held in San Diego, Calf., USA during March 25-28.

Merve Uctasli (Üçtaşlı), DDS, is a Turkish dentist and a doctoral researcher in the Finnish Doctoral Programme in Oral Sciences (FINDOS) at the Department of Cariology and Restorative Dentistry, University of Turku. She is currently finalizing her PhD studies under the supervision of Professor Arzu Tezvergil-Mutluay and Professor Murat Mutluay. Due to the complex composition and ultrastructure of dentin, preventive strategies targeting only the mineral phase are often insufficient in halting the progression of dental caries. The precise mechanism of action of silver fluoride in caries management remains unclear. Therefore, in her doctoral research, Merve investigates the mechanisms underlying silver fluoride treatments and explores how they can be optimized in clinical practice. The award winning presentation “Fatigue strength of ammonia- and water-based silver fluoride on caries-affected-dentin” is part of her PhD thesis and was presented at the 103^rd IADR General Session in Barcelona, Spain.

Statement from Merve: I would like to sincerely thank the IADR NOF Hatton Award committee for selecting me to compete and for honoring me with this award. I am deeply grateful to my supervisors for their continuous support, guidance and encouragement throughout my PhD journey. I would like to thank to my colleagues, research group and friends at University of Turku. Special thanks to the helpful and friendly technicians at the Institute of Dentistry’s Laboratory. It is a true honor to be a part of the University of Turku community and I am proud and thankful to receive this recognition. I look forward to representing the Scandinavian Division at the 104^th IADR General Session in San Diego, USA, in 2025.

Kazi Shefaul Mulk Shawrob is a doctoral research fellow at the Institute of Oral Biology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo. He works under the supervision of Associate Professor Roger Junges and focuses on microbiology and antibiotic resistance.

His research explores the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance in pathogen and commensal streptococci, the most abundant bacteria in the oral cavity. Using whole-genome sequences, he investigates the distribution of key resistance elements, including penicillin-binding protein genes, and their potential for horizontal gene transfer across species. Addressing antimicrobial resistance is a priority for research agendas globally.

The award-winning presentation “Global Dynamics of Antibiotic Resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae” is part of his PhD project and was presented at the NOF Hatton Awards during the 103rd General Session & Exhibition of the IADR, held in Barcelona in June 2025.

Statement from Kazi: Receiving the NOF Hatton Award is a proud moment in my research career. The award highlights the importance of addressing antimicrobial resistance through genomic analysis of both oral and pathogenic bacteria. I’m excited to share our findings on the international stage at the IADR General Session in San Diego in 2026 and to continue building on this work in the next stage of my research.