NIH Health Disparities Interest Group 2024

Brenda Heaton, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Brenda Heaton is Associate Dean for Research and Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Health Services Research at the University of Utah School (U of U) of Dentistry. She is also Adjunct Associate Professor of Population Health Sciences in the U of U School of Medicine. Dr. Heaton’s primary research interests include studying oral health equity by investigating social, economic, and political drivers of dental care access, utilization, and quality. She utilizes observational epidemiology to investigate the relationship between oral health and overall health and well-being and applies complex systems science approaches to investigate the causal mechanisms responsible for oral health disparities. Her research is currently funded by multiple NIDCR awards. Go to Dr. Heaton's full bio.

Lisa Simon, M.D., D.M.D.
Dr. Lisa Simon is a physician, dentist, and health services researcher. She has been involved in the implementation of medical-dental integration projects in the primary care, dental, and inpatient settings and has published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles on oral health policy and equity. A proud safety net clinician, Dr. Simon has practiced both medicine and dentistry in federally qualified health centers in the greater Boston area. She is a faculty member in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Go to Dr. Simon's full bio.

Gina Thornton-Evans, D.D.S., M.P.H.
Dr. Thornton-Evans is the director of the Division of Oral Health (DOH) in CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, where she directs programmatic and scientific efforts, as well as policy, partnerships, and communication strategies, to promote oral health equity and fulfill the division's mission. Previously, Dr. Thornton-Evans led DOH's Surveillance, Investigations, and Research Team and is the director of CDC's Dental Public Health Residency Program. She leads several key activities to monitor the oral health of the US population and directs a training program for dental public health professionals... Go to Dr. Thornton-Evans' full bio.

Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque, D.D.S., Ph.D.
Dr. Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque is the deputy director of National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health. An accomplished clinician, researcher, and leader, Dr. Webster-Cyriaque had previously served as a faculty member at the University of North Carolina (UNC) schools of dentistry and medicine for more than two decades. As a tenured full professor at UNC, Dr. Webster-Cyriaque also served as the attending on clinical service at the UNC Hospital’s dental clinic. While there, she led research into a potential etiologic agent for salivary gland disease in patients living with HIV, assessed the oral microbiome and its implications for cancer-causing viruses, and... Go to Dr. Webster-Cyriaque‘s full bio.