The UQU scholarship student Dr. Alaa Qari won first place in the Leverett Merit Award for Outstanding Achievements 2020, which is offered by the AAPHD, USA, in the field of community dentistry. Therefore, she has become the first Saudi national to obtain this award.

Dr. Alaa Qari obtained this prestigious award, which represents a new stream in teledentistry, for her research paper which includes more than 50 applications of behavior modification techniques.

Dr. Alaa Qari stated that her participation highlights the scientific abilities of the Saudi scholarship students, and their outstanding scientific studies and research that promote the leading role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in different scientific fields. Moreover, she outlined that this award highlights the kingdom's influential contributions in fields that have become of special importance to everyone. Dr. Alaa expressed her thanks and gratitude to the wise leadership (may Allah support it) for the care provided to science and education, and the attention offered to the scholarship students. She also expressed her thanks and appreciation to Umm Al-Qura University, represented by the College of Dentistry.

The UQU College of Dentistry, on its Twitter page, welcomed the return of its scholarship student, Dr. Alaa Qari, after obtaining her PhD in community dentistry and a fellowship in geriatric dentistry from Boston University, USA.