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APHA ORAL HEALTH SECTION ANNOUNCES 2021 JOHN W. KNUTSON DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD RECIPIENT

Jayanth V. Kumar, DDS, MPH

Jayanth Kumar Dr. Jayanth V. Kumar has served as State Dental Director since 2015 at the California Department of Public Health. Before joining the California Department of Public Health, Dr. Kumar held several positions at the New York State Department of Health from 1980 to 2015, including director for the Bureau of Dental Health, assistant director, and dental public health epidemiologist. In addition, he was an associate professor at the School of Public Health, University of Albany, and New York state dental public health residency program director.

Dr. Kumar's role as state dental director and manager has been defined by a strong commitment to elevating oral health as a priority in the state's health agenda. Working with partners and stakeholders, Dr. Kumar has advanced innovative solutions to guide statewide programs and policies in California and New York. Throughout his career, he has combined administrative, research and teaching responsibilities. His contributions include developing school-based interventions, case management models, technical assistance centers, and professional training programs. In addition, he was influential in formulating the guidelines for fluorides, sealants, dental care for pregnant women, and infection control in dental offices. His efforts to bring about system-level change in the care of pregnant patients in perinatal and dental practices by developing guidelines, standards, and partnerships have been emulated by several state and national organizations.

Dr. Kumar has conducted many research studies to assess the impact of community water fluoridation. In addition, he has served on many national and international expert panels, including the National Research Council of the National Academies, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Dental Association, and Health Canada.

Dr. Kumar is a board-certified specialist in dental public health and a former director and president of the American Board of Dental Public Health. He earned a Master of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, a dental degree from Bangalore University, and a post-graduate certificate in dental public health from the New York State Department of Health.

John W. Knutson Distinguished Service Award in Dental Public Health

This award has been presented each year since 1982 to honor an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to improve oral health in the United States. Its recipients have demonstrated sustained and exemplary accomplishments in the field of dental public health.

Please join us as we present Dr. Kumar with this prestigious award during the Oral Health Section Awards Ceremony at the APHA Annual Meeting on Sunday, Oct. 24 from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. (CST), please make plans to attend the Annual Meeting and support the Oral Health Section. The full Oral Health Section Annual Meeting program is available here: https://apha.confex.com/apha/2021/meetingapp.cgi/Program/2093. Registration to the Annual Meeting is required to join this event. Register here: apha.org/Events-and-Meetings/Annual/Registration-Information.

Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Population Oral Health Pre-Professional Student Award

Megan Cloidt, DDS, MPH
University of Rochester Dental Public Health Residency Program at Jacobi Medical Center

Project: Identifying the utility of dental providers in HPV prevention efforts: results from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey 2015-2018

Jorge Bernal

Jorge Bernal, DDS, MPH

Dental Public Health Residency Program at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Project: Visualizing county level data to better target dental safety net programs for children in Georgia, United States

Caswell A. Evans Population Oral Health Post-Professional Student Award

Arwa Z. Gazzaz, BDS, MPH, FRDC (C)
PhD Candidate, Dept. of Oral Health Science
University of British Columbia

Project: Parental psychosocial factors and dental care disparities among children and adolescents with special health care needs: A stress process model

Wenyue Lu, ML
PhD Candidate
Center for Asian Health, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University

Project: Oral Cancer among Asian American and Non-Hispanic White Adults Aged 50 and Younger: Racial /Ethnic Disparities

The APHA Oral Health Section is grateful for the generous support provided by the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health for the Caswell A. Evans Population Oral Health Post-Professional Student Award and the Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Population Oral Health Pre-Professional Student Award. Students and early career professionals who are awarded receive mentorship opportunities, two years of APHA membership, APHA meeting registration, and travel support to the Annual Meeting.

All oral health care workers should be vaccinated against COVID-19

Joint statement supporting COVID-19 vaccine mandates for all oral health workers (PDF)

2020 Anthony Westwater Jong Population Oral Health Pre-Professional Student Award Recipients

Tooka Zokaie MPH, CPH
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Master of Applied Science in Population Health Management Program
Project: Oral health forum, Oral health and population health management in Chicago, IL

Salma Elwazeer, BDS, MDS, MPH
UT Health San Antonio’s DPH residency program
Project: Impact of social determinants of health on human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination among Texas teenagers

2020 Caswell A. Evans Population Oral Health Post-Professional Student Award Recipients

Nora I. Alamer BDS, MPH, FRCD(C)
Harvard University, School of Dental Medicine
Project: Dental care utilization trends among disabled US adults; 2010-2018.

Hesham A. Alhazmi BDS, MS
Harvard University, School of Dental Medicine.
Project: Beyond the mouth: Integration of social determinants of health within AEGD and GPR curricula

The APHA Oral Health Section is grateful for the generous support provided by the DentaQuest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement for the Caswell A. Evans Population Oral Health Post-Professional Student Award and the Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Population Oral Health Pre-Professional Student Award. Students and early career professionals who are awarded receive mentorship opportunities, two years of APHA membership, APHA meeting registration, and travel support to the annual meeting.

APHA ORAL HEALTH SECTION ANNOUNCES
2020 JOHN W. KNUTSON DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD RECIPIENT

Dr. Bill Maas is a dental public health consultant, transitioning after 37 years of federal service to serve, beginning in 2009, as an advisor to the dental policy campaign of The Pew Charitable Trusts, an effort to change state and federal policy to improve access to dental care for disadvantaged children, and later to other institutions and organizations with similar missions. He also has an appointment as clinical professor at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry. Dr. Maas retired from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after 10 years of service as director of the Division of Oral Health. From 1997-2001, he served as the chief dental officer of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) as an assistant surgeon general and was a member of the project team that prepared the landmark 2000 Surgeon General’s report, Oral Health in America.

Dr. Maas earlier had provided clinical care in the Indian Health Service and research administration at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Throughout, he has identified oral health data needs of public health programs, and developed and disseminated science-based, policy-relevant information needed by patients, clinicians, health plans, purchasers, and policy makers to make better oral healthcare decisions. Bill has been a member of the American Public Health Association since 1978, and is board certified in dental public health. His dental degree is from The University of Michigan, with Omicron Kappa Upsilon honors, and his MPH and MS in health policy and management were earned from Harvard University.

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