Saturday, May 17, 2025

On Saturday, May 17, 2025, the Southern California Section of the Pierre Fauchard Academy held its first breakfast meeting (and 51st Annual Meeting) at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel in conjunction with the Annual Session of the California Dental Association (Art + Science of Dentistry). Nine new Fellows were inducted into the PFA–Drs Mouhanned Almajdalamo. Zeynep Barakat, Cheryl Engineer Bhatt, Corinne Devin (U.S. Navy Captain), Joni  A. Forge, Tran Que Han, Brian Y. Hong, Mark S. Kahn, and Lisa B. Popkoff.

The Southern California Section also presented certificates to four senior dental students from the Southern California Dental Schools.  The Schools’ select the students for these prestigious awards. The students recognized included Yijin Liu from the University of Southern California, Jiawei Liu, DMD from Western University of Health Sciences, Jingwei Cai from Loma Linda  University, and Caitlin Neapole from the University of California Los Angeles.

PFA Treasurer, Dr. Dan Castagna, provided an update on PFA activities around the world and assisted with the induction ceremony of the new Fellows.  The keynote speaker for the meeting was PFA Fellow Dr. Chethan Chetty, President of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) and RK’s son.  He gave an inspirational presentation to everyone in attendance.  He was accompanied by his wife Avina.

Special guest recognition’s included the following PFA fellows: Dr. Max Martinez, President, California Dental Association, Dr. Bob Hanlon, President-Elect, California Dental Association, and Dr. Scott Kim, Treasurer, California Dental Association.

Our first breakfast meeting turned out to be a big success and the Section is planning a breakfast meeting again in 2026. It will be held once again on the Saturday of the CDA meeting at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel.  We hope to see  you there.