Paul Ziarnowski Award for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

The UB School of Dental Medicine's annual Student Research Day highlights the broad range of scholarship produced by SDM students and residents. In 2023, the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion established the Paul Ziarnowski Award for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Research to recognize outstanding student research with a unique focus. 

Research posters eligible for this award have a focus on issues of equity, diversity and inclusion (e.g., health disparities, social justice issues,  mental health, diversity in the profession, etc.) 

Past Award Recipients

• 2025: Andrew Jiang
• 2023: Catherine Payano and Pallavi Mathur

Paul Ziarnowski graduated with his DDS from the UB School of Dental Medicine in 1977. He received his GPR from Wadsworth Hospital in Brentwood, California, in 1978 and his advanced certificate in orthodontics from the UB School of Dental Medicine in 1982.

For over 30 years, from 1982 to 2015, Dr. Ziarnowski operated his own private orthodontic practice in Buffalo, NY. From 1995 to 2015, he served as an associate clinical professor of orthodontics at UB School of Dental Medicine and then as associate chair of orthodontics from 2015 to 2017.  Dr. Ziarnowski and his wife, Irene, have been married for 50 years and have two children and two grandchildren. He has always been an avid bicyclist; he still rides extensively and just completed a hand-built bamboo bicycle.