Dr. Jeremy Bobera (’22 DDS, ’25 MS) has been named a recipient of the 2025 Balint Orban Award at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP), held this year in Toronto. The award recognizes Bobera’s outstanding presentation—an achievement that reflects his hard work, meticulous preparation, and deep commitment to advancing periodontal science.

Named in honor of Dr. Balint Orban, a pioneering figure in the scientific foundations of modern periodontics, the national competition selects only eight students each year based on written abstracts. Finalists present their research at the AAP Annual Meeting, where entries are evaluated by a panel of 10 judges.

Bobera presented his research mapping the oral metabolome across distinct oral niches for the first time and further characterized the metabolome–microbiome–immune network alterations in obesity prior to the onset of periodontal disease.

Bobera’s success highlights the strong mentorship of Dr. Sukrith Ganesan and the innovative research emerging from his laboratory, which continues to elevate the University of Iowa’s reputation on the global stage. 

Bobera currently practices at Quad Cities Periodontics with Dr. Mike Franzman (’04 DDS, ’07 MS), a University of Iowa alumnus and past Balint Orban Award recipient, bringing the award back to Iowa for the first time since 2007.

The Department of Periodontics has a longstanding tradition of excellence in this competition, with previous winners including Ganesan and Department of Periodontics Executive Officer Dr. Sivaraman Prakasam. More recently, Dr. Priyanka Pitchumani, clinical assistant professor, and Dr. William Burns ('21 DDS, '24 MS, mentored by Ganesan) were named finalists in 2024.