Acela Martinez Luna, DMD, MS receives Straumann Scholarship for New Periodontists
Acela Martinez Luna, DMD, MS, clinical assistant professor of periodontology at the ECU School of Dental Medicine Department of Surgical Sciences, has been awarded a 2017 Straumann Scholarship for New Periodontists.
Through the generous support of Straumann, the American Academy of Periodontology competitively awarded 17 scholarships to new U.S. and Canadian periodontists. Dr. Martinez Luna received the scholarship award at the recent American Academy of Periodontology Annual Meeting in Boston at the student/new periodontist session titled, “Pearls and Pitfalls: What I Wish I had Known After Residency.”
Acela Martinez Luna, DMD, MS
The scholarship includes a stipend to be used towards Annual Meeting expenses. Dr. Martinez Luna will also be recognized in the December 2017 issue of Periospectives, the magazine of the American Academy of Periodontology.
Dr. Martinez Luna joined the surgical sciences faculty in July 2017. She grew up in Mexico City in a family of dentists. Her mother is a practicing periodontist, and her father is a general dentist. She earned a doctor of dental medicine degree from Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosi in Mexico in 2009. Thereafter, she completed certificate training in restorative dentistry at Centro de Estudios Odontologicos de Queretaro in 2011.
Following in the footsteps of her mother, Dr. Martinez Luna pursued specialty training and completed the advanced education program in periodontology at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Dentistry (periodontics certificate and master’s degree in 2015). As a postdoctoral student and resident, she investigated the osteogenic activity associated with dental implant placement in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus under the mentorship of Dr. Stephen Offenbacher, UNC-Chapel Hill W.R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor.
Following her specialty training, Dr. Martinez Luna embarked on a one-year fellowship in advanced implant dentistry focused on complex implant treatment planning, bone augmentation, three dimensional imaging and printing uses (e.g., stent fabrication, guided surgery, prosthesis fabrication and delivery), and implant prosthodontics.
Dr. Martinez Luna is also the recipient of a Straumann S.U.P.E.R. Grant (2015), the North Carolina American Association of Dental Research Section Derek T. Turner Student Research Award (2015), and the UNC-Chapel Hill Elsie and Baxter Sapp Fellowship Award (2014).
Prior to joining ECU, Dr. Martinez Luna practiced periodontics and implant dentistry in the city of Queretaro, Mexico. She is a diplomate with the American Board of Periodontology.
According to its website, Straumann is a “global leader in implant, restorative and regenerative dentistry.” Learn more at http://www.straumann.com/.