SEATTLE, March 19, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- During the 2013 ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition being held March 16-19 in Seattle, Washington, four individuals were awarded Olav Alvares Awards for Outstanding Articles Published in the Journal of Dental Education. The 2013 Olav Alvares Award recipients are:

Mario A. Brondani, D.D.S., M.Sc., M.P.H., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Oral Health Sciences, University of British Columbia Faculty of Dentistry, author of "Teaching Social Responsibility Through Community Service-Learning in Predoctoral Dental Education," May 2012.

Shiva Khatami, D.D.S., Cert. Ortho., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Orthodontics, Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine, author of "Clinical Reasoning in Dentistry: A Conceptual Framework for Dental Education," September 2012.

Emily Springfield, B.A., M.S.Ed., Instructional Designer, Dental Informatics, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, lead author of "Using Multiple Methods to Assess Learning and Outcomes in an Online Degree-Granting Dental Hygiene Program," April 2012.

Cara L. Tax, Dip.D.H., B.A., M.Ed., Assistant Professor, School of Dental Hygiene, Dalhousie University Faculty of Dentistry, lead author of "A Model for Cultivating Dental Hygiene Faculty Development Within a Community of Practice," March 2012.

"ADEA congratulates these scholars for their outstanding research and contributions to the Journal of Dental Education," says ADEA President Gerald N. Glickman, D.D.S., M.S., M.B.A., J.D. "The JDE is widely recognized as the premier publication for academic dentistry because of such contributions."

The Olav Alvares Award was named in honor of Dr. Olav Alvares, Journal of Dental Education editor from 2000 to 2009, to encourage junior scholars (assistant professors, instructors, residents, students, and staff) to conduct and publish outstanding research.