Dushanka Kleinman

Dushanka V. Kleinman, DDS, MScD, is the principal associate dean, associate dean for research and pProfessor, School of Public Health, University of Maryland at College Park. In this role, she works closely with faculty, students and senior leadership, and has played a key role in the initial and subsequent accreditation of this new School of Public Health. Her research interests include prevention of oral health disparities, health literacy and strategies to integrate oral and general health. Her recent research activities have included public health impact studies. Prior to this position, Dr. Kleinman completed 28 years of government service where she served as deputy director, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, NIH and Assistant Surgeon General (Rear Admiral), U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps. In 2006, she completed a five-year term as the 15th Chief Dental Officer, USPHS. She was the co-editor, and coordinated the federal involvement in the development, of the first-ever Surgeon General's report on oral health (2000), and A National Call to Action to Promote Oral Health, A Public-Private Partnership Under the Leadership of The Office of the Surgeon General (2003). Dr. Kleinman is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Public Health and has served as president of the American Board of Dental Public Health, American Association of Women Dentists and the American Association of Public Health Dentistry. Currently, she is the co-chair of the HHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2030. Dr. Kleinman has a DDS. from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry and a hospital rotating internship at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics. She received a MScD in dental public health from the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine at Boston University.