Category: Blog

Greetings from Peru. My name is Natalia Valverde Espinoza, and I am a midwife with a master’s degree in Teaching and Research in Health. I am an Assistant Professor at Universidad Continental, where I am deeply passionate about reproductive health and research ethics. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the University of Washington’s Timothy A. DeRouen Center for Global Oral Health. The purpose of this visit was to initiate a research project aimed at mapping all Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) in Peru and assessing their compliance with the minimum requirements set by the regulatory entity (INS). This was to be accomplished by gathering information from official websites, which remains a challenge due to the limited emphasis placed on formalizing these IRBs in my country. The visit to UW was challenging, but I am excited about how much more there is still to learn.

During my time at UW, several researchers graciously took the time to listen to my ideas, and the mentorship of Dr. Ana Lucía Seminario, was invaluable. This experience also allowed me to attend presentations on mental health, HIV, family planning, and to gain insights from researchers on the importance of scientific publication, ethics, and the practical application of research.

Since the beginning of my career, I have participated in various global health projects throughout Peru. This involvement has enabled me to better understand local realities and to establish stronger connections with regional and local government officials. I am currently finalizing the manuscript of a study and starting a university-funded project on comprehensive post-abortion care in the jungle and highland regions of Peru, which I hope will eventually include an oral health component.

My next goal is to advance my research career by applying for a PhD program at the University of Washington, where I aim to strengthen my research skills, as well as to seek international funding from organizations such as the NIH, to continue developing my projects for the benefit of global health. Without a doubt, my time at UW has transformed my understanding of what true research involves.

My name is Divya Kannappan and I’m a recent graduate from the University of Washington School of Dentistry. Welcome to my journey, where passion for dentistry meets a commitment to global health.

“You become who you believe you are” has been the most inspirational quote which carved my life and led me to become a dentist. As a classical dancer from the age of five, I stumbled into a world which emphasized symmetrical facial features and a beautiful smile to keep the audience enticed with multitudes of expressions and graceful movements. There were days I stood before the mirror, diligently pushing my permanent front teeth back into alignment. It is a belief passed down by our ancestors that if I were to push my teeth in the early morning hours, it would move to the desired position. As silly as it sounds, thankfully my parents abandoned these popular beliefs and took me to my uncle, an established orthodontist. He handed me over to one of his residents and after a series of case history questions, they named me the “Twin Block” case. There began my destiny, to the dentist and towards dentistry. My monthly visits to the dentist and the transformation I witnessed in my facial profile and smile fascinated me and it instilled a deep urge in me to become a dentist and to help spread beautiful smiles, sound in esthetics and function.

“Everything we have ever wanted is on the other side of fear”. During my first lap of dental school in India, my inquisitive nature nurtured me to expand my knowledge by presenting posters at national conferences, which served as a platform that opened my mind to a diverse set of new ideas in dentistry. Having organized and led many urban and rural oral health camps, I encountered patients who declined dental treatment due to fear and anxiety from painful past experiences. I can vividly recall one such incident involving a female patient, who presented with severe pain originating from a dento-alveolar abscess in her mandible and she firmly refused treatment and demanded a pain-relieving injection even after we explained to her the potential complications from the abscess. This event seeded in me the idea of conducting a door-to-door campaign in the rural posting to raise oral health awareness. Our efforts were successful when more patients from the rural area approached us for dental treatment in the following months. This campaign was recognized as a valuable tool in the internship years that followed, and I felt elated at creating an impact that helped society. As an advocate of oral health awareness and maintenance, the “One day Denture camps” granted me the experience to make swift decisions and to develop resilience and dexterity. The look of ecstasy when patients hold a mirror to their face, smiling with happy tears welling up in their eyes is the most content feeling that I have experienced.

“Treat the etiology and not just the symptom” are the words of my professor that I always heard ringing in my ears while treatment planning during the two years of working as an associate dentist in India. In the quest for finding the cause, I found myself providing comprehensive care which translated into positive feedback from satisfied patients. My clinical years equipped me to render compassionate care and in building long term rapport with my patients.

“A ship is always safe at shore but that is not what it is built for.” Uprooting myself from my comfort zone and shifting base to a new country was a daunting process but the faith I had in me and the kind people I met on my way have inspired me to always follow my ambitions and my path to pursue dentistry in the United States has been exhilarating. I ventured out exploring dentistry in the United States by volunteering at the Medical Teams International Mobile Dental Clinic program, helping the underserved population. My interactions with the patients from different cultural and social backgrounds aided me in understanding their perspectives and the ability to cater to a diverse population. I gained deep insight into the day-to-day clinical practice as I started to work as a Dental Assistant at Dr. Fletcher’s dental office. These rewarding experiences made me strongly believe that I will tremendously benefit in learning from the distinguished faculty at the University of Washington International DDS program and to make Washington my new home.

“Dreams are not what we see in sleep, but the ones that do not let us sleep”. From being a dental student inspired by Dr. Ana Lucia Seminario’s Global Oral Health course to travelling to Kenya, Africa to conduct research with the help of Timothy DeRouen Center for Global Oral Health, it was a life-changing experience for me. The main objective of the study was mapping the workflow of medical clinics in Kisumu treating HIV-affected children to determine the feasibility of integration of dental checkups. By evaluating the availability of dental professionals and resources within the medical settings and identifying potential collaborations with local dental organizations or professionals to support the integration, I was humbled and honored to be a part of an independent research study closely aligned with the current National Institutes of Health (NIH) R21 grant led by Dr. Seminario and her team at UW School of Dentistry. Under the guidance of our generous host Dr. Immaculate Opondo and her team, cultural exploration of Kisumu and research blended seamlessly. As I presented my findings to the research team in Kenya, the appreciation and happiness that was shared made me soak in the unparalleled joy of giving back. As my first expedition to Africa, I thought this experience would be impactful, but it led me to discover my life’s true purpose and meaning. I was inspired and motivated to give back to the global community. I want to be good at what I do, be generous with my time and help in any way that I can. This experience helped me realize the route of healthcare that I wish to pursue and solidified my passion for global outreach to promote health. Moving forward, I’m happy to share that I will be travelling to Jamaica this September to provide oral health services to underserved communities.

Meet Harnoor Mahal

Greetings from Seattle! My name is Harnoor Mahal and I am a fourth-year dental student at the University of Washington School of Dentistry. When I started my undergraduate degree at UW, I had no idea I would end up becoming a dentist. Growing up without regular visits to the dentist, my exposure to the world of dentistry was minimal. However, I knew three things – I loved science, service, and connecting with others. Seva, or Selfless Service, is a strong component of my Sikh faith and I knew Seva would be at the forefront of my future career. 

My journey to Dentistry

Growing up, I often accompanied my grandparents to their medical appointments, and would translate from English to Punjabi (and vice versa) for their providers. The service-oriented nature of healthcare was familiar to me, and I envisioned myself pursuing a career in medicine as a physician.

That changed during my junior year, when I traveled to Cusco, Peru on a medical mission trip. We traveled to remote villages high in the mountains, driving through windy and narrow dirt roads to provide essential services for isolated hillside communities. I was excited to dive headfirst into the vast world of Global Health and learn about the impact of rural medicine within healthcare. To my surprise, I was placed in the dental clinic to assist for the day.

The makeshift dental clinic was large and airy with two portable dental chairs and units placed on opposite ends. Walking in, I felt a bit nervous since I hadn’t assisted in that type of environment before, but my nerves melted away when I saw the room filled with laughter and children playing. I had spent the first two years of college working at an underserved preschool in Beacon Hill, and I was instantly reminded of my kiddos back home. Our first patient was an energetic four-year-old boy with a badly decayed tooth. He hopped into the chair with a smile and held his hand out to me for a high five, chatting my ear off in Spanish. That abruptly switched as he went from screaming with joy that he was visiting “La Doctora” to a stream of tears as we started the extraction. I quickly grabbed his hand, reassuring him, and he gradually calmed down as he squeezed my hand. I watched the dentist with awe as she swiftly removed the troublesome little tooth in under a minute. At the end, the little boy jumped out of the chair, his smile instantly came back, and he gave us both a big hug before running off to play with his friends. Assisting in the dental clinic gave me a wider view of healthcare and showed me the impact of oral health on underserved communities.

When I returned home, I participated in SMDEP (Summer Medical and Dental Education Program) at UW, where I got to spend a day in the UW School of Dentistry Simulation Lab and learn about life as a dental student – including drilling my first dental prep with a handpiece and waxing up the anatomy of a tooth. SMDEP strengthened my interest in dentistry, and I spent the next few years volunteering, shadowing, and working at various dental clinics in Seattle. I loved the opportunity to make a tangible difference in people’s lives, providing essential care and restoring smiles to those in need. Dentistry aligned perfectly with my values, allowing me to incorporate Seva (service), science, and meaningful connections through the patient-provider relationship.

Service in Dental School

Entering dental school in 2020, I knew I wanted my student experience to center around leadership and service. Joining the UW Hispanic Student Dental Association (HSDA) as a board member during my first year, I dove headfirst into dental outreach activities. Together, we organized quarterly mobile dental clinics, extending vital services to underserved communities, including migrant farm workers and immigrants, offering free extractions, restorative care, and cleanings. Our setup mirrored the mobile clinics I had witnessed in Peru, complete with portable dental chairs and an ASEPTICO mobile dental unit, bringing me full circle to the moments that inspired me to pursue a career in dentistry.

Jambo! Research in Kenya with the UW DeRouen Center

This past September, I traveled to Kisumu, Kenya to conduct pediatric global oral health research with the Timothy A. DeRouen Center for Global Oral Health. This experience was a dream I’ve had since I was an undergraduate. During my senior year of undergraduate studies, I enrolled in an introductory dental course, where Dr. Ana Lucia Seminario gave a guest lecture on her Global Oral Health research in Kenya, Thailand, and Peru. I left Dr. Seminario’s lecture feeling inspired and determined. This experience came full circle, when I had the opportunity to enroll in her Global Oral Health Course during my D2 year, and travel to Kenya with the DeRouen Center as a D4. I appreciated learning about the intricacies of the social determinants of health and being able to apply those directly to my research project on nutrition. I presented my findings at the UW School of Dentistry Research Day in January 2024.

I centered my research on Nutrition and its impact on Global Oral Health. While in Kenya, I interviewed providers of children between ages 2-5 years. I sought to assess provider familiarity with the Kenyan National Guidelines for Health Diets and Physical Activity, their success in transmitting this knowledge to caregivers. Alongside these discussions, I discovered intriguing insights into local culinary customs, such as the consumption of Ugali, a traditional corn flour bread, and the tradition of enjoying Kenyan Tea with meals. Immersed in Kenya’s vibrant culture, I not only sampled local delicacies with my team, but also engaged deeply with the community, gaining a profound appreciation for the diverse traditions woven into Kenyan life.

Under the guidance of our generous host Dr. Immaculate Opondo and her team, our exploration of Kisumu seamlessly blended research with cultural immersion. We visited healthcare facilities to conduct research, allowing us to gain valuable insights and absorb local traditions. Beyond our academic pursuits, our cultural excursions led by our knowledgeable driver and guide, Oskar, led us to iconic landmarks like the Kisumu Impala Sanctuary, the Equator Line, and a serene boating experience on Lake Victoria. I was delightfully surprised to learn of the large Indian diaspora present in Kisumu and I visited the local Sikh gurdwara, where I was welcomed warmly by local members of the community who shared their rich history in Kenya, from their migration from India during the British colonial era to their presence in modern-day Kenya.

Going Forward

My journey to becoming a dentist has been a whirlwind, brimming with opportunities for growth and discovery. As I prepare for my graduation on June 1st, marking the beginning of my dental career, I am excited to leverage my education and background in dentistry to serve underserved communities across the world. Beyond providing essential dental care, I envision integrating global health initiatives into my future pursuits. Whether through participating in international dental missions, collaborating with organizations dedicated to improving health in developing regions, or advocating for policy changes to address global disparities in dental care access, I am committed to making a meaningful impact on a global scale. My aspiration is not only to deliver quality dental services but also to champion oral health equity, striving to bridge the gap in access to care. I am grateful for the opportunity provided by the UW DeRouen Center to engage and deepen my understanding of Global Oral Health, and I am committed to advancing its mission of improving community health as a dentist.

Greetings from Peru. My name is María Claudia Garcés-Elías, a graduate in dentistry from the San Luis Gonzaga de Ica National University. Additionally, I completed an MBA in health at the Andrés Bello University in Chile and decided to specialize in Dental Public Health at the Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University (UPCH). I first heard about this specialization months before joining the rural service that health professionals carry out in my country (SERUMS). Until that moment, I found it difficult to fully understand what public health involved.

Although the SERUMS rural service in Peru is not mandatory for dentists, it is established as a prerequisite for pursuing dental residency. That’s why, in 2018, I embarked on this experience by traveling for a year to Querobamba, one of the 11 districts that make up the province of Sucre, part of the Ayacucho region (located in the central-southern part of Peru). This district is 3500 meters above sea level, 14 hours away from my residence, and accessible only by road, which can collapse during the rainy months. However, adapting seemed straightforward; I could get used to its cold climate, the health center, its workers, and the community organization. I recall that initially, my patients were children who shyly peeked into the office. Over time, they convinced their siblings, parents, and grandparents to seek care. After six months, I believed that I understood how this community operated. The inhabitants of that locality started their day very early and finished it around 7:30 pm; after that hour, the streets were absolutely empty. While on Sundays, they entertained themselves by fishing for trout, picking fruits, or attending bullfights.

Despite being a rural community, I assumed that their essential needs were assured, thanks to institutions located at most two hours away. However, on one occasion, a father and his eight-year-old son arrived at the health center for a dental examination. When the child approached to be treated, I noticed that all of his clothing was dirty, which concerned me and led me to inquire about the reason, even considering possible neglect by his parents. That’s when they began to tell me that they lived in a district four hours away, and to find transportation they waited on the road for someone to take them to the city. On that particular day, they waited since 7:00 am, although the time to find a vehicle was always uncertain. During the four-hour journey on a highly rough road, the child experienced dizziness that caused nausea, resulting in him soiling his clothes. Upon reaching their destination, they did not know where the child could rest and recover. So, the only alternative was to go to the health center, receive attention, and return home as early as possible.

After hearing the story, I realized that my perspective on life in Querobamba was significantly biased compared to that of its inhabitants in the city and the surrounding districts. Overall, the living conditions they were exposed to hindered their access to health services and surpassed any intention of receiving timely medical attention despite being a well-informed and health-conscious community.

After completing my rural service, my motivation to specialize in public health strengthened and led me to research dental health disparities among children and older adults in Peru, my main research focus. Five years after concluding this experience, I understand more and more the scope of action of public health specialists and the needs of rural communities in Peru, including the population of Querobamba. As a final reflection, having experienced rural service or similar activities is essential if you aspire to work in public health. Only through such experiences can one gain a profound and empathetic understanding of the field, enriching the ability to contribute significantly to improving populations’ health and quality of life.

Greetings from Bangkok, Thailand! My name is Oranart Matangkasombut, and Noon is my nickname. I am currently an Associate Professor in Microbiology, chairperson of the Center of Excellence on Oral Microbiology and Immunology at the Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University, and Fellow of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Thailand in Dental Public Health.

I have always been fascinated by the invisible but vast world of microbes and how their constant interactions with humans affect our health. After graduating from Chulalongkorn University Dental School, I was awarded the Anandamahidol scholarship under Royal patronage of HM the King to pursue my Ph.D. in Biological Sciences in Dental Medicine at Harvard University. This was where I fell in love with molecular biological research working on cellular machineries that regulate gene expression using the budding yeast as a model system.

My postdoctoral research at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research brought my two spheres of interests in molecular biology and oral health together. I was supported by the Dean’s Scholar Award from Harvard School of Dental Medicine to work on the genetic and epigenetic basis of antifungal resistance in Candida albicans, a common oral fungal species that can cause oral and systemic opportunistic infections. The increase in antifungal resistance is a major public health problem worldwide and is among my current research interests.

After returning to Thailand, I had the opportunity to join the 1st workshop on Clinical Research Methods in Oral Health organized by Prof. Tim DeRouen and colleagues. This was a critical steppingstone that allowed me to expand my research into clinical studies. The advances in DNA sequencing technologies have allowed us to study all the microbes in an environment without the need for cultivation and have opened the doors to novel discoveries related to the human microbiome. Since early childhood caries (ECC) is an important problem, especially in developing countries, we took advantage of this new technology to search for predictive indicators of dental caries in toddlers. The goal was to identify caries-predictive biomarkers in the salivary microbiome of caries-free toddlers so that we can provide effective targeted preventions of ECC before its onset. We collaborated with Prof. Waranuch Pitiphat’s team at Khon Kaen University and Prof. Ana Lucia Seminario at UW to conduct this study within a longitudinal cohort that followed over 500 one-year-old children for 2 years. Our work was the first to have identified 4 bacterial taxa and developed a model that could help to predict future caries in 1-year-old children. This work has been recognized by the 2022 young investigator award from IADR Pediatric Oral Health Research Group (POHRG) to Dr. Ratcha Raksakmanut, our PhD graduate and the first author of our article recently published in the JDR.

I continue to enjoy bringing together molecular microbiology and oral health in my research. Our group’s research interests span across disciplines, including oral microbiology, oral fungal infections, fungal-bacterial interactions in dental caries and endodontic infections, DNA repair and bacterial genotoxins, antimicrobial drug resistance and adjunctive agents, hyposalivation, and the impacts of oral microbiome on oral health. As a full-time faculty, I value the stimulating interactions with highly motivated students in both academic and research capacities. I have been fortunate to have had many wonderful mentors and collaborators.  Now I am happy that I can also join the team to share my experience as a mentor in the new D43 training grant’s international workshops on Clinical Research Methods in Oral Health.

My name is Marco Antonio Alarcon Palacios, and I am a Master and Specialist in Periodontics, a proud graduate from the prestigious Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) in Lima, Peru in 2000. From the very start of my career, I discovered a passion for Periodontics, as this field allows you to improve overall health and aesthetics, offering a rewarding opportunity to make a positive impact in the lives of patients.

Upon completion of my master’s degree at UPCH, the need to learn and pursue a practice based on evidence-based dentistry skyrocketed. This thirst for learning led me to seek intensive training at internationally renowned institutions such as the International Team for Implantology (Boston, 2011) and the Osteology Foundation (Lucerne, 2012). Armed with this cutting-edge experience, I decided to revolutionize Periodontics and Oral Implantology in my country by introducing innovative research courses.

In 2013, we held the first “Evidence-Based Periodontics and Oral Implantology” congress, with inspiring international speakers who motivated our students to deepen their research and share the results of their studies. The result has been extraordinary! Since then, our UPCH group has published around 20 indexed articles on Web of Science, a testament to our commitment to advancing knowledge not only within our university but throughout Peru. In fact, we are extremely proud to be the third country in Latin America in published articles, according to the latest Scimago ranking.

 

Together with our exceptional research team, we have achieved not one but two remarkable scientific products, aimed at improving the health of our population. First, we developed the “Periodontics Clinical Practice Guide” in collaboration with the Peruvian Ministry of Health, providing guidelines for the treatment of periodontitis and gingivitis in the Peruvian population. Later, that same year, we presented the book entitled “Management of Peri-implant Pathologies”, focused on meeting the needs of patients with edentulism, who require dental implants. This publication was awarded the “Hipolito Unanue” prize, the highest scientific recognition in oral health in Peru.

Last year marked an exciting new chapter in my career when I assumed the position of President of the Peruvian Association of Periodontics and Osseointegration. My mission is to advocate for oral health through gum health care and bring the latest in periodontics to the entire country through the prevention, promotion, and treatment of periodontal diseases – disorders that significantly affect the quality of life of countless people. Today, I am also pleased to contribute my expertise to the Timothy A. DeRouen Center for Global Oral Health at the University of Washington.

Hi, I’m Jenipher Ober-Oluoch, a pediatric dentist who is passionate about dental public health. I would love to see a world where quality oral health services are within reach to all those who need it in a timely fashion, especially for the children with special health care needs.

Safari is the Swahili word for voyage. My time in dentistry has been a voyage. The journey towards providing service, not necessarily healthcare, to children started way back as a child when I would accompany my mother, who was a teacher, to various community activities. I was drawn towards helping the children who were struggling with tasks. Later, during my training as a dentist, I was able to see the burden of disease among the children during the community outreach activities and in the clinical teaching sessions. Upon qualifying from the dental school, I was deployed to work at one of the government hospitals where the oral health disease burden was huge! The clinic had limited resources and offered basic curative oral health care with minimum preventive programs. To improve the situation through advocacy and research, I actively participated in the Kenya National Dental Association, the Kenya Association of Paediatric Dentists, the East and Southern Division of IADR and Paediatric Oral health research group of IADR. I was motivated to study public health, pediatric dentistry and later specialized in Epidemiology with a goal to better understand general disease distribution, the oral health needs of the child patient and how to make it better. I needed to make sense of the numbers and inform policy. To date, my country Kenya has made tremendous steps towards oral health advocacy and there is increased efforts and opportunity towards this end.

I joined the University of Washington’s TABASAMU grant team when I was pursuing my Epidemiology career at the Georgia State University in Atlanta, Ga. I have since moved from Georgia to Rwanda where I teach Paediatric Dentistry at the School of Dentistry, University of Rwanda. I am excited to be part of the TABASAMU program in Kenya that seeks to understand the interactions between oral health and HIV infection. The Research training and mentorship program will greatly impact the research capacity in Kenya, the Eastern Africa region, and beyond. We recently concluded focus groups with 44 potential mentees drawn from various regions within Kenya. Through these future oral health researchers, it’s my hope that we will continue to crunch the numbers to inform the interventions that would improve the clinical picture within the Kenyan population.

Dr Jenipher Ober-Oluoch BDS, MPH, MDS (Paed dent), Epid, FADI, FPFA, FICD
Senior Lecturer & Departmental Lead, Dept. of Paediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics
School of Dentistry, College of Medicine & Health Science
University of Rwanda, Rwanda

My first encounter with a dentist was as a child.  I don’t remember much other than the feeling of numbness after the procedure.  I had other trips to the dentist as a teenager which ultimately led to pursuing dentistry at the university.

Growing up, I thought everyone visited the dentist when they had teeth problems.  However, this notion was shattered during the clinical years in dental school when I came face to face with the reality of dental disease burden.  Seemingly young people like myself who had already lost teeth due to dental caries not to mention the pain they persevered with because of lack of access to dental services.

During the clinical years in dental school, we were fortunate as students to participate in many dental outreach programmes in various parts of the country over the weekends.  As a student, one is never prepared to see the amount of dental disease in those populations.  There was a lot of dental caries, periodontal disease, and edentulism secondary to extractions to treat dental caries.  What stuck out was the lack of dental services in those rural areas and if there were present, the facilities are run down and dilapidated.

Subsequently I graduated and was employed by the government in a rural facility.  Despite having the knowledge and skills to provide curative services, I realised that patients often presented late when the only treatment options available were either extractions or root canal treatments.  In my mind, I thought it better to educate the catchment population around the hospital to prevent dental disease and providing education about early diagnosis and treatment.  However, no such programmes existed at the time.

I later enrolled for a postgraduate degree in paediatric dentistry at the University of Nairobi.  I was exposed to the high dental disease burden in children who presented late and often required extensive treatment which few could afford.  During the course we were introduced to aspects of public health with a focus on dental health and its relationship with general well-being.  My interaction with dental public health specialists during this time also kindled my interest in prevention being better and cheaper than curative services.  Writing a thesis was part of the course and this introduced me to carrying out research and its importance.

As a practising paediatric dentist interested in carrying out research, I have been fortunate to have wonderful mentors, Prof Kemoli and Prof Ana Lucia Seminario.  They have linked me to research opportunities and guided me.  Most notably, they provided guidance and invaluable help when I applied to be a Fogarty fellow.  Although I was not successful, I appreciated immensely the opportunity and ‘hand holding’ I received.  Most recently, I was part of the initial cohort of trainees for the DeRouen Center at University of Washington for training young researchers in Kenya and Uganda on publishing manuscripts.  This was a wonderful programme where I learnt a lot and was fortunate to publish my manuscript based on my postgraduate thesis in a leading dental journal.

The more I continue practising as a paediatric dentist I realise the big gap that exists in patient education and advocacy and the lack of preventive programmes.  I hope that by continuing to do research in dental public health I will be able to address some of these gaps and influence change in a positive manner.

My name is Jorge Castillo and I am originally from Lima, Peru. I finished dental school at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Perú . My interest in Dentistry arose from my dad, who is a Pediatric Dentist, trained in the 60’s in Pediatric Dentistry at the Eastman Dental Center in Rochester, New York, with a brilliant career in Peru, both professionally and academically. Since I was a dental student, my favorite specialty was Pediatric Dentistry. Restoring dental health for children and enjoying when a child finished their dental appointment with a big smile, especially because I was an anxious patient when I was a child, were determining factors for me to choose pediatric dentistry as the specialty I wanted to follow. Also, during my years of dental school, I had the opportunity to treat various types of patients in various places: the dental clinic at the university, in the poorer areas of Lima, and in the remote communities of Peru. That reaffirmed my interest in doing good things for our children.

After finishing my dental degree, I was fortunate to begin graduate studies in Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Connecticut and do a Masters of Dental Sciences at the same University.  The years at UConn were wonderful and I was lucky to have faculty such as Norman Tinanoff, Jim Crall, Andrew Poole among others.  When I returned to Peru, I began my career as a faculty member in my dental school in Lima and working in private practice with my father and my sister.

A few years later, I was accepted to start an orthodontic program at the University of Washington.  My training in Orthodontics was incredible and here I was also fortunate to have top faculty members such as Vince Kokich, Peter Shapiro, Greg King, Don Joondeph, Greg Huang among others.  A requirement for the program to which I had applied, was to do a Master of Science in Science.  Through Dr. Doug Ramsay, I had the honor of working with Dr. Peter Milgrom who was my mentor during those years. I had the opportunity to work with him in Public Health projects in the Department of Oral Health Sciences and in the Dental Fears Research Clinic. That experience was the one that finally shaped my interest in research and finding solutions to the oral health problems in children.

When I returned to Peru in 2000, my career was consolidated. I returned to private practice with my father, I began a new cycle of teaching in the postgraduate course of Pediatric Dentistry of the UPCH and I began to be invited to give courses and conferences in various cities in Peru, and many countries around the world. I have been fortunate to give courses and conferences in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, Mexico, United States, Canada, Spain, Portugal, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, and Iran. Soon I will visit South Africa and India.  In addition, I began to get involved with institutions beginning with the presidency of the Peruvian Society of Pediatric Dentistry and then of the Peruvian Society of Orthodontics.

My relationship with the UW held firm and I became an Affiliate Assistant Professor at the Department of Oral Health Sciences, a position I hold now. That opportunity led to many joint research projects between the University of Washington and the Peruvian University Cayetano Heredia, and the exchange of students and faculty between the two universities. One of the most important milestones was the organization of the Latin American Workshop on Clinical Research Methods in Oral Health, thanks to the leadership of Dr. Timothy DeRouen and Dr. Ana Lucia Seminario. This activity was held twice in Lima and the lectures were given by faculty members from the University of Washington. We received a large group of students from various parts of Peru and Latin America.

In addition to that, I started my international career as a board member of the International Association of Pediatric Dentistry. I was president of the IAPD from 2013 to 2015 and that was a wonderful opportunity, not only to meet people from all over the world but also to get to know the oral health situation of children globally. I am currently in a second term as president of the IAPD and we have very important plans to promote children’s oral health around the world.

Almost two years ago, I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. For me it was a hard fight against the disease, but finally and after a few months of treatment I was able to succeed and now I am recovered and with all the strength to continue working hard. I want to thank everyone who was involved in my recovery. When you go through a difficult time in your life, like a did, you end up appreciating life and the people around you, much better.

There are so many plans for the future, in my professional and personal life. As a Member of the Board of Directors of the UW Timothy A. DeRouen Center for Global Oral Health, we will continue working with Dr Ana Lucia Seminario and the DeRouen Center with projects designed to improve oral health in our population. Thanks to the DeRouen Center for the opportunity to work together.

Greetings from the City of champions, Eldoret in Kenya.

My journey in chasing after that elusive smile for my people started back when I was in high school. From that far back I wanted to be a dentist, to be among the chosen few in Kenya to deliver  much-needed oral health services. In the year 2000, I joined the only Dental School in Kenya, located at the University of Nairobi, to pursue a degree in Dentistry. I was among the 22 dentists who graduated in the class of 2005. While in 3^rd year, I attended an outreach camp in the countryside and what I saw broke my heart. Severe periodontitis, tooth mobility, migrated teeth, halitosis and an abundance of caries. Some didn’t even have teeth! Many of the patients we saw had never seen a dentist. Through my undergraduate studies, I went for many outreach dental camps throughout the country, and the situation was the same – the young and the old from all walks of life streaming in looking for that much needed dental treatment. Unfortunately, most of the time we only offered pain medications and an occasional extraction, with the teams frequently discussing which teeth to intervene. While the smiles were elusive for the patients, they still appreciated our humble interventions since no pain was worth it for them. Access to the opportunity to have that smile was scarce to so many of my country folks. Therein my interest in public health, prevention and oral health promotion was born as it occurred to me that through public health interventions, I could help prevent the advanced disease cases we were managing.

With every extraction I did or helpless case I handled, my interest in oral health research would grow.

During my internship in 2006, I visited the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI– the largest health research organization in Kenya) to enquire about their research activities in the field of oral health. To my surprise, they did not have an oral health research department despite oral health being a problem in Kenya. Fortunately, KEMRI requested me to write a paper on the burden of oral diseases in Kenya and justify why this should be an agenda for the institute. On completion of this paper and justification, I was offered a job at the Institute with the primary task of driving the oral health research agenda. This I did, though it was a challenging task. Oral health was just not getting the attention it needed! I sat through many scientific reviews for protocols in all other health areas. It was rare to see a protocol on oral health for review.

While at KEMRI I wrote and got approval for several oral health proposals but getting funding for implementation was not easy. Interest in oral health at the Institute began when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared oral trauma and malignancies noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) – NCDs were considered a global threat.  With intramural and extramural funding, and together with partners, we were able to initiate various research studies including collating oral tumor burden using data from the Kenya Cancer Registry and prospective cohort studies in persons living with HIV, amongst others. I also undertook an MSc in Public Health to improve my knowledge and skills in research

With time I managed set up and actualize the oral health clinical and research department at KEMRI. The department was equipped with the requisite dental chair, equipment and consumables. It is currently in place, with two dentists. The two dentists have carried on the dream of having oral health research on the table having done research on oral health and preterm birth and oral health and Miraa (KHAT).

In the year 2014, I moved to academia and joined Moi university, the second Dental school in Kenya. Through teaching at the University, I have been able to contribute to training of dentists and have more impact on dental public health. I lecture in the department of Community Preventive Dentistry and Periodontology. During my seven years at the university, I have managed to be impactful through driving health promotion and outreach activities. I chair the collaborations committee through which I secured collaborations that have improved capacity in the school though equipment and skills transfer.

I also participate actively in the Community Based Education and Service program (COBES) a flagship course in the Moi University College of Health Sciences. In the COBES training the students go through community activities through their five academic years of study. In the 1^st year the students learn modules on proposal writing and various aspects with regard to community engagement and research. In the 2^nd year they are attached to rural health centers where they do community entry and diagnosis research, in the 3^rd year the students develop proposals in areas they noted gaps in the communities and finalize these reports in the 4^th year. In the 5^th year the students are attached to level 5 hospitals where they learn day to day hospital management and administration. The fifth-year students develop proposals and do research on specific gaps they note as they work in the facilities. As faculty, I engage with the students through the various activities in the COBES program.

The oral health disease burden is significant in Kenya, with limited access to quality treatment for the patients. There is opportunity to build capacity in dental public health so as to reduce the burden of disease through research, oral health promotion and preventive programs. The major challenge is in funding for oral health.

Increasing the pool of oral public health specialists through training and increased awareness of funding opportunities may improve the situation. Efforts to have collaborations in oral health would go a long way in addressing the gaps we face.

It is my hope that as time goes by, I will continue to impact in an even greater way on the oral health agenda and indeed improve the research, promotion and prevention of oral health in Kenya and beyond.