Faculty of Medicine Professor Dr. Cy Frank named honorary “dentist”

By Laurie Wang

University of Calgary professor of orthopaedic surgery Dr. Cy Frank, MD'76,has been named an honorary member of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR).

The IADR is an international organization based in the United States committed to increasing knowledge and research to improve oral health worldwide. The three most recent living presidents of the IADR select an honorary member each year, recognizing the individual’s contribution to dental research.

“I’m flattered to say the least,” says Frank, an Alberta Heritage Foundation Medical Research (AHFMR) scientist and executive director of the Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute. “To be nominated by the people who have driven the association and made major contributions to it over the years is extremely meaningful.”

Frank was the scientific director of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR)’s Institute for Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (IMHA) from 2000 to 2006. He was responsible for creating research plans and programs for the oral health community as one of his six areas of focus.

“I really feel that the oral health community did all the hard work themselves and they clearly deserved the significant expansion in their activities (doubling of their research funding from 2000 to 2005). I simply helped create the programs,” says Frank.

Frank’s current research is on soft tissue repair and replacement in joints, where the processes of healing are very similar to those in the tissues of the teeth and gums.

“We deal with bone repair too which also has significant overlap. The cell biology of the tissues that we study likely has complimentary applications, as does our work on understanding the effects of local mechanical conditions on cell behaviour during injury and repair.”

Frank says he’s very proud of this membership in the IADR. “I am deeply indebted to my oral health colleagues for this honour.”