Mairobys Socorro, DDS, PhD, research assistant professor, was awarded the Joseph Lister Award for New Investigators during the 2026 IADR/AADOCR/CADR General Session & Exhibition held on March 25-28, 2026. This award, which is managed by the International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (IADR), recognizes outstanding new investigators who show exceptional promise in dental research. It’s considered one of the top early-career awards in the field. Recipients of this award are recognized for conducting high-quality, innovative, and original research that advances the prevention of oral diseases and promotes oral health.
Dr. Socorro, who is a faculty member in the Center for Craniofacial Regeneration and the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, studies molecular mechanisms underlying genetic predisposition to dental caries. Her research focuses on the molecular communication between ameloblasts and odontoblasts, with particular emphasis on how transcription factors regulate this crosstalk and influence enamel and dentin formation, with deficiencies in these factors contributing to increased susceptibility to dental caries.