UConn Health

April 7, 2022 | Courtney Chandler - UConn Health

Dental Faculty Recognized Internationally for Work in Oral Medicine and Oncology

"It continues to be my privilege to collaborate with my colleagues in oral medicine, oral oncology, and oncology both here in America and internationally," Dr. Douglas Peterson says.

Douglas Peterson DMD, Ph.D., FDS RCSEd, a facutly member in the UConn School of Dental Medicine, in a UConn Health dental clinic on February 27, 2018. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health photo)

Dr. Douglas Peterson, professor of oral medicine at the UConn School of Dental Medicine, recently received two prestigious honors for his work in oral medicine and oncology.

This year, Peterson has been awarded the King James IV Professorship by the Royal College of Surgeons/Edinburgh.  In addition, he has been named Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO)– the first dental degree recipient of that honor.

“It continues to be my privilege to collaborate with my colleagues in oral medicine, oral oncology, and oncology both here in America and internationally,” said Peterson. “The goal of this collaboration is the integration of the highest quality basic, translational, and clinical research with evidence-based clinical oral management of medically complex patients.  It is truly a team-based, interprofessional enterprise.”

The King James Professorship, an internationally-recognized honor, is the most senior academic award made by the Royal College. Founded in 1506 by King James IV of Scotland, Queen Elizabeth II gave permission for the College to use the title King James IV Professorship. Up to five professorships are awarded annually based on outstanding contributions to the surgical sciences. In 2011, Peterson was also awarded a fellowship in dental surgery without examination through the Royal College of Surgeons/Edinburgh.

Peterson will be presenting his Professorship lecture at the Royal College/Edinburgh in September.

Peterson was also recently named a 2022 Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology award honors the society’s most dedicated members and volunteers and recognizes extraordinary volunteer service, engagement, and dedication to the field of clinical oncology. Peterson is the first dental degree recipient since the award’s inception in 2007.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is the world’s leading oncology organization for oncology health professionals, with approximately 45,000 members representing more than 150 countries. Peterson has been involved with ASCO since the early 1980s, including his first publication in ASCO’s Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) in 1987—a renowned journal in the field of oncology with a high impact factor. Peterson was also the society’s first dental degree chair of their Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee from 2020-2021, and is currently an inaugural member of ASCO’s Cancer Care Delivery Council which was established last year. Peterson has contributed a lead role on two oral oncology guidelines that were published in JCO over the past two years, with considerable visibility in the oncology community.

Peterson will be receiving the FASCO award in-person at ASCO’s annual meeting in June.

Since the beginning of his faculty career in 1976, Peterson’s work has been focused on oral management of the medically complex patient, with emphasis on oral complications in cancer patients. His contributions have helped foster development of interprofessional models for patient care, research and health professional education.

“I have strived to translate the mechanistic basis of disease into the clinical oral management of patients.  It is where the science continues to lead me,” said Peterson.