Associate professor of clinical dentistry Reyes Enciso has been named the recipient of the 2015 William H. Rollins Award for Research in Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology.

Associate professor of clinical dentistry Reyes Enciso has been named the recipient of the 2015 William H. Rollins Award for Research in Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology.

The award acknowledges her work with cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), an X-ray based dental device that delivers 3-D information of craniofacial structures.

“I have pioneered in the field of oral maxillofacial radiology, through multidisciplinary collaborations, advanced clinical applications of CBCT technology in orthodontics, endodontics, dental sleep medicine and oral surgery,” Enciso wrote in her research summary, part of her Rollins Award application.

Enciso is the first Ostrow faculty member to receive the distinction bestowed annually by the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology (AAOMR) to individuals with an outstanding body of research.

“Dr. Reyes Enciso is a dedicated researcher and an innovative thinker [who] has the unique ability to find gaps in current knowledge in the pursuit of scholarship in her field,” said Parish Sedghizadeh DDS ’01, who helped write a letter of recommendation for Enciso’s application. “We can think of no one who is more deserving than Dr. Enciso.”

As part of the Rollins Award, Enciso will receive a $1,500 check and is expected to deliver a half-hour oral presentation at the AAOMR’s annual session, taking place in Indianapolis, Ind. from Sept. 30 through Oct. 3, 2015.

“I have been working in this field since 2001 and it feels wonderful to be rewarded by the academy!” said Enciso, who credited Yang Chai PhD ’91, DDS ’96, Dean Avishai Sadan MBA ’14 and Sedghizadeh for their support and encouragement.

Before coming to Ostrow, Enciso had an extensive background in computer science, having earned a bachelor’s degree in the subject from Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain as well as master’s and doctor of philosophy degrees from the University of Orsay in Paris.

In 2001, Enciso joined the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry as a research associate, a dual appointment with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. She became an assistant professor of clinical dentistry in 2003.

Since then, Enciso has earned a master’s degree in clinical and biomedical investigations from the Keck School of Medicine and was promoted to associate professor of clinical dentistry in 2013.

During her academic career, Enciso has had more than 90 publications, including 37 original articles in peer-reviewed journals, nine articles in the Journal of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology, eight articles in the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, three in the Journal of Endodontics, two in Sleep and Breathing, one in Dentomaxillofacial Radiology and one in the Journal of Dental Education.

This is the second award Enciso has earned from the AAOMR. In 2010, she was received an Arthur H. Wuehrmann for Best Radiology Article.