Announcing the 2022 Kumar Patel Prize in Laser Surgery Recipients Dr.

Robert
M. Pick, Dr. L. Miguel Carreira, and Dr. Pedro Azevedo

Bothell, WA January 29, 2022 --(PR.com)-- The American Laser Study Club (ALSC) awards the 2022
Kumar Patel Prize in Laser Surgery to the following highly accomplished and respected laser surgery
providers, educators, pioneers, and researchers:

Robert M. Pick, DDS, MS, for pioneering contributions to CO2 laser dental applications and education

L. Miguel Carreira, PhD, DTO, DMD, DVM, and Pedro Azevedo, DVM, MSc, for outstanding
contributions to CO2 laser surgery post-operative healing research

The Kumar Patel Prize in Laser Surgery Award Ceremonies will take place during the American Laser
Study Club Annual Symposia. This year’s two Symposia include Breathe and Thrive (February 11-13 in
Las Vegas) and the Veterinary Laser Surgery Symposium (March 4-5 in Las Vegas). More information
can be found at americanlaserstudyclub.org/symposium. The Awards will be presented by Dr. Kumar
Patel, PhD, and Dr. Peter Vitruk, PhD.

About Robert M. Pick, DDS, MS

Dr. Robert Pick is a Board Certified Periodontist. He received his Dental Degree (1980), Certificate of
Residency in Periodontics (1982), and his Master of Science Degree (1982) all from Northwestern
University Dental School. In the 1980s Dr. Pick pioneered the use of surgical CO2 lasers in oral and
periodontal surgeries, and in the 1990s he co-authored “Lasers in Dentistry” textbook outlining the
opportunities that laser technology brings to dentistry. Dr. Pick is currently engaged in the full-time
private practice of Periodontics and Dental Implants. He is also a member of the attending staff of
Northwestern Memorial Hospital and a Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery at Northwestern
University Medical School. Dr. Pick is a Fellow in both the American and International College of
Dentists. A popular lecturer, Dr. Pick presents programs both nationally and internationally on practice
management/motivation, the Internet and periodontics and implant dentistry. He has published numerous
articles in the scientific literature, has authored periodontal chapters in Clark’s Clinical Dentistry, Dental
Clinics of North America, other chapters and manuscripts, and co-edited the text “Lasers in Dentistry.”
Dr. Pick has been featured on live closed-circuit TV programs at the Chicago Dental Society and at the
Hinman Dental Meetings. He is recognized by Dentistry Today as one of the Top Leaders in Continuing
Education. Dr. Pick was the recipient of the 1998 Gordon J. Christensen Outstanding Lecturer
Recognition Award.

About L. Miguel Carreira, PhD, DTO, DMD, DVM

L. Miguel Carreira holds the degrees of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM); Doctor of Human
Medicine in Dentistry (DMD); Diploma in Orthopedics and Trauma in Small Animals (DTO);
postgraduate international training (Pst-Grd) in several veterinary and human medicine and surgery fields;
Master of Science (MSc); and Doctorate (PhD) in Veterinary Sciences (branch of Clinic – specialty of

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Surgery with his studies in Brain Neurosurgery and Neuronavigation in the Dog). Dr. Carreira, together
with Dr. Azevedo, co-authored a series of outstanding studies and publications dedicated to CO2 laser
surgery intra- and post-operative pain, as well as post-operative healing (e.g. "Comparison of the
Influence of CO2-laser and Scalpel Skin Incisions on the Surgical Wound Healing Process" and
"Comparison of the Hemodynamic Response in General Anesthesia between Patients Submitted to Skin
Incision with Scalpel and CO2 Laser Using Dogs as an Animal Model. A Preliminary Study"). Currently,
he is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine – University of Lisbon, teaching
Surgery I and II (small animals). He is the Clinical Director of a private Centre of Veterinary Medicine –
Anjos of Assis Veterinary Medicine Centre (CMVAA) in Barreiro, Portugal. He has authored several
scientific papers published in international index journals and belongs to the editorial boards of numerous
human and veterinary medical international journals. Dr. Carreira’s scientific interests in veterinary
medicine focus on neurosurgery (brain and medulla), orthopedics and trauma, plastic surgery, CO2 laser
surgery, anesthesia, pain, and transplantation. His interests in the area of human dentistry focus on
surgery, implants, and cosmetic dentistry.

About Pedro Azevedo, DVM, MSc

Pedro Azevedo holds the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
– University of Lisbon (FMV-ULisboa), Portugal. His Master’s thesis focused on the evaluation of
postoperative pain in small animals. He completed several postgraduate international trainings (Pst-Grd)
in different veterinary medicine and surgery fields, such as pain, ultrasonography, and microsurgery. Dr.
Azevedo, together with Dr. Carreira, co-authored a series of outstanding studies and publications
dedicated to CO2 laser surgery intra- and post-operative pain, as well as post-operative healing (e.g.
"Comparison of the Influence of CO2-laser and Scalpel Skin Incisions on the Surgical Wound Healing
Process" and "Comparison of the Hemodynamic Response in General Anesthesia between Patients
Submitted to Skin Incision with Scalpel and CO2 Laser Using Dogs as an Animal Model. A Preliminary
Study"). He is a Senior Doctor and leads the team of staff veterinarians at a private Centre of Veterinary
Medicine – Anjos of Assis Veterinary Medicine Centre (CMVAA), in Barreiro, Portugal. His scientific
interests in veterinary medicine focus on anesthesia, pain, and surgery. He has authored several scientific
papers in different international index journals in the areas of anesthesia and analgesia, surgery, internal
medicine, orthopedics and trauma, and veterinary dentistry.

About the Kumar Patel Laser Surgery Prize

The American Laser Study Club established the Kumar Patel Prize in Laser Surgery in 2018. The prize is
awarded annually at the ALSC Annual Symposia based on the merits of the recipient’s contribution to the
science, education, and/or practice of laser surgery.

The ALSC awarded the 2018 Kumar Patel Prize to Dr. Patel himself for his invention of the CO2 laser in
1964. The CO2 laser’s ability to precisely vaporize one cell layer at a time, due to its excellent absorption
by histological water, and its unique ability to delicately coagulate blood capillaries are just some of the
features that make the CO2 laser the gold standard of surgical lasers.

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In 2019, the Kumar Patel Laser Surgery Prize was awarded to Robert A. Strauss, DDS, MD; John C.
Godbold Jr., DVM; and Warren B. Seiler, MD.

In 2020, the Kumar Patel Laser Surgery Prize was awarded to David Duclos, DVM, DACVD; and Martin
Kaplan, DMD.

In 2021, the Kumar Patel Laser Surgery Prize was awarded to Richard Baxter, DMD, MS; and
Christopher Winkler, DVM.

About the American Laser Study Club

The ALSC was founded in 2017 to fill the void in the current laser dentistry and laser surgery education
system, namely to elucidate the science behind laser-tissue interaction. The Mission and Vision of the
ALSC are to promote Science-Based Laser Surgery, Dentistry, and Safety Education. The ALSC helps
Physicians, Dentists, Veterinarians, and Practice Staff Members to excel at the efficient and safe
application of laser energy in everyday practice. Learn more at americanlaserstudyclub.org.

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Contact Information:
American Laser Study Club
Daniel Chase
888-206-2710
Contact via Email
https://www.americanlaserstudyclub.org

Online Version of Press Release:

https://www.pr.com/press-release/853915

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