Postdoc and Fellow

Joseph L. Henry
Oral Health
Fellowship in Minority Health Policy

FELLOWS

Zerita Buchanan DDS
2022-2023

Zerita C. Buchanan, DDS
Joseph L. Henry Oral Health Fellow

Zerita C. Buchanan, DDS is a fourth-generation dentist and a proud HBCU graduate. Her commitment to health equity led her to be recognized as a “Healthcare Hero” by her alma mater Spelman College. Her private practice, Dental Dreams, LLC, serves as an innovation hub for HBCU students interested in the STEM sciences. Since 2014, Dr. Buchanan has served as the Assistant Director of Increasing Diversity in Dentistry (IDID), a national pipeline program for minority college students interested in pursuing a career in dentistry. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and The Links, Inc. Dr. Buchanan received her dental degree from UNC Adams School of Dentistry in 2014.

 

Wayne Stephens DDS

Wayne Stephens, DDS, MBA
MPA Candidate, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, MA

Wayne Stephens DDS MBAWayne Stephens, DDS, MBA has spent his career working to improve the lives of children. He cares deeply about health care equity, and to that end, he established the first pediatric dental specialty practice at a South Florida Federally Qualified Health Center. Most recently, he served as Jessie Trice Community Health System’s Director of Pediatric Dental Health and Wellness where he developed policies and strategies for improving oral health for children served in clinical settings and in school based health programs. Dr. Stephens advocates for addressing the challenges of systemic inequities through an intersectional lens. In this regard, he serves on the boards of Florida Health Justice Project and the Foundation for New Education Initiatives, non-profit organizations employing innovative approaches to structural problems.

Dr. Stephens is board certified in Pediatric Dentistry and he obtained his specialty training at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. He graduated from Columbia University in 2010 after completing a dual degree program with the College of Dental Medicine and the Graduate School of Business. He is a recipient of the National Dental Association President's Award for Leadership as well as Columbia University College of Dental Medicine’s Dean's Award in Leadership. He is a former President of the American Student Dental Association. In 2017, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry chose him for their Samuel D. Harris Fellowship in Oral Health Care Policy.

Siobhian Sprott DDS

Siobhian Sprott, DDS, MPA, MPH
Dental Director, Franciscan Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA

Siobhian Sprott, DDS, MPA, MPH is currently Dental Director at Franciscan Children's Hospital in Boston. Previously she was Chief Resident in Pediatric Dentistry at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston, MA. She worked as a general dentist in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia for 10 years. Dr. Sprott strives to make public health an integral part of her clinical practice; she has a strong motivation for understanding oral health care delivery from an organizational management perspective that engages the community. She has been affiliated with the DC Pediatric Oral Health Coalition, an alliance that strives to improve oral health access and care for children in Washington, DC. Dr. Sprott received her dental degree from Howard University College of Dentistry in 2008 and completed her residency in general dentistry at Howard University Hospital in 2009. She also earned both her BS and Master of Public Administration degrees from Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, LA, in 2002 and 2004 respectively.


 

Shelly Taylor DDS

Shelly Taylor, DMD, MPH
Post-graduate Periodontics Resident, Columbia University, New York, NY

Shelly Taylor, DMD is presently post-graduate Periodontics Resident in Columbia University. Previously she was the Dental Director of Uphams Corner Health Center in Dorchester, MA. Prior to moving to Massachusetts, Dr. Taylor served as the Dental Director of Broward Community & Family Health Centers (BCFHC) in South Florida. Through these roles, she has demonstrated her commitment to public health and dedication to caring for underserved communities. In her present leadership role, she has oversight of the day-to-day operations of the oral health program and provides clinical and preventative dental care to patients of the health center. Additionally, she serves as a clinical preceptor to fourth-year dental students who rotate through the clinic. Dr. Taylor values volunteerism and has taken an active role in developing programs within the community. She has an interest in designing programs that will help integrate care between medical and dental departments within the healthcare system. Dr. Taylor was a recipient of the Outstanding Leadership Award at BCFHC and received the Young Alumni Gator Great Award for her impactful work in the South Florida community. Dr. Taylor earned her Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Dental Medicine degrees from the University of Florida in 2011 and 2015 respectively. She also earned an Advanced Education in General Dentistry Certificate from the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry in 2016.

Mehedia Haque

Mehedia Haque, DMD, MPH

Dr. Mehedia Haque was most recently a full time Clinical Assistant Professor at University of Illinois at the College of Dentistry. She also saw patients at Yummy Dental and Orthodontics for Kids and Apple Dental Care in Chicago, IL.  Dr. Haque graduated from Rutgers University, Summa Cum Laude and received her graduate degree from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine in 2015 where she received the Oral Medicine Award.  Afterwards, she pursued postgraduate education and earned a Certificate in Pediatric Dentistry from NYU Langone Hospitals in 2017.  Dr. Haque has been awarded the Master Clinical Fellowship from Academy of Pediatric Dentistry in 2018 and currently serves on the Editorial board for Journal of Dentistry for Children.  She was an Advisory Committee Member of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health from 2013-2016 that developed the first statewide “Oral Health Practice Guidelines for Pregnancy and Early Childhood.”  As a cofounding board member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gayhead, Aquinnah, MA, from 2011-2015, Dr. Haque helped to build a collaborative framework of trust to address the disparities in this underserved population, in order to deliver sustainable oral health care.  She was also granted the Weissman grant from Harvard Global Health Institute to work with a GAVI Alliance in Geneva, Switzerland.

Shanele Williams DDS

Shanele Williams, DDS, MPH
Simulation Clinic Faculty, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Bradenton, FL

Shanele Williams, DDS is currently working in Simulation Clinic Faculty in Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Bradenton, Florida. Prior to her current position, she was a dental resident at Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA.  Previously, she was a student assistant to the Dean of Clinical Affairs at Meharry Medical College.   From 2012-2014, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Scholar, with distinction, based on potential for leadership in health policy.  Her current volunteer efforts include working as a Clinic Dental Volunteer for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and a Clinic Volunteer Attending at Action for Children and Teens in Oral Health (ACTION) as well as a HSDM Wampanoag Oral Health Program volunteer.  She has also served as a dental volunteer for the Salvation Army.  Dr. Williams received her dental degree from Meharry Medical College in 2014.

Untreated caries among US working-aged adults and association with reporting need for oral health care
by Shanele Williams, DDS, MPH, Liang Wei MS, Susan O.Griffin, PhD, GinaThornton-Evans, DDS, MPH
The Journal of the American Dental Association
Volume 152, Issue 1, January 2021, Pages 55-64

Christina Rosenthal DDS

Christina Rosenthal, DDS, MPH
Owner and CEO, Paradigm Dental Center, LLC; Founder and President, The 516 Foundation; Memphis, TN

Christina Rosenthal, DDS is currently the owner/CEO of Paradigm Dental Center, LLC, in Memphis, TN.  She is also founder and president of 516 Foundation, a non-profit organization that addresses community needs in Memphis, notably the Determined to be a Doctor Someday (DDS) program which seeks to equip under-privileged students with information needed to pursue healthcare careers.  This successful program was created by Dr. Rosenthal while she was participating in the American Dental Association’s Institute for Diversity in Leadership in 2011.  Dr. Rosenthal received her dental degree from the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry in 2005.

E. Elon Joffre DDS

E. Elon Joffre, DMD, MPH
Orthodontist, dotSmiles; Instructor in Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine; Boston, MA

Dr. Joffre has an interest in providing orthodontic care to children and families from underserved and underprivileged communities. A native of Nassau, Bahamas, he has consistently practiced dentistry with underserved populations both locally and internationally. As a result of his commitment, he received the American Association of Public Health Dentistry dental student recognition award for achievement in community dentistry and dental public health in 2005. Dr. Joffre has an interest in improving access to dental and orthodontic care for minority and underserved populations who need treatment. His goal is to develop programs and policies that will increase the number of underprivileged children who receive needed orthodontic treatment.

Dr. Joffre received a DMD from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. He completed The Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard-Wide General Practice Residency. He then returned to Tufts where he received his orthodontic specialty training. He completed the Joseph L. Henry Oral Health Fellowship at Harvard Medical School and received his MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Joffre serves on staff at Brigham and Women's Hospital where he provides orthodontic care at one of the hospital's clinics. Dr. Joffre also serves on faculty at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

Shanta D Richardson

Shanta D. Richardson, DMD, MPH
Dentist, Shiny Chompers Pediatric Dentistry, Ellicott City, MD

Dr. Richardson is currently a dentist in Shiny Chompers Pediatric Dentistry in Ellicott City, Maryland. Previously she was a pediatric dentist at Massachusetts General Hospital who provides care to disabled, medically compromised, and healthy children of all ages. A native of Los Angeles, her interest in working with children began in high school where she served as a volunteer tutor to elementary school students at the local Urban League. In 2003, she received the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Pre-doctoral Student Award for her dedication to improving the oral health of children with special health care needs. In working with minority and disadvantaged children, she has witnessed first-hand the level of oral disease affecting these individuals. Her awareness of this issue prompted her residency thesis entitled, “An Oral Health Education for Physicians: Early Detection & Prevention of Dental Disease among the Pediatric Population in Massachusetts.” Her research into this issue continued as she pursued the Joseph L. Henry Fellowship in Minority Oral Health Policy after residency. Her practicum project addressed issues surrounding the development of an oral health screening for pre-school children in Western Massachusetts. In the future, Dr. Richardson hopes to influence policies related to dental coverage for pediatric patients and develop a community-based clinic providing care to underserved children.

Dr. Richardson received a D.M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine in 2003 and her pediatric dental certificate in June 2005 from Children’s Hospital Boston. Subsequently, she completed the Joseph L. Henry Fellowship in Minority Oral Health Policy at the Harvard School of Public Health in 2006.


 

Brian Swann

Brian Swann, DDS, MPH
Assistant Professor, Harvard School of Dental Medicine; Emeritus Chief of Oral Health, Cambridge Health Alliance, Boston, MA

Brian J. Swann, DDS, MPH serves as the Emeritus Chief of Oral Health for the Cambridge Health Alliance and conducted the Oral Physician Program within the General Practice Residency, a model that integrates and builds capacity between oral health, primary care, behavioral health, nursing and pharmacy. He recently assisted

in acquiring a $4.5 million multidisciplinary expansion. Dr. Swann now serves as a consultant and will assist in creating a clinical laboratory to help develop the integrated model.

As an Assistant Professor at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and the Harvard Medical School, he assisted with introducing oral health into that curriculum and bringing the oral health examination into the medical core curriculum. This culminated into Oral Health Day. At the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, he has a certificate in Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology.

Dr. Swann is involved with outreach projects in Boston and directs a pipeline project for the Wampanoag Tribe on Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod. Most recently, he cofounded and now serves as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Massachusetts State Office of Oral Health, and for the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless.

Dr. Swann is a Joseph L. Henry Fellow from the Harvard School of Medicine. He received a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of California, San Francisco, and a Masters degree from the Harvard-Chan School of Public Health. He serves as the co-chair for the National Dental Association’s Global Oral Outreach Committee. His recent work has been serving vulnerable populations in Massachusetts, Tennessee, Jamaica, Haiti, and East and South Africa; and refugee populations in Lebanon and Greece.

Cynthia Hodge

Cynthia Hodge, DMD, MPH, MPA
President and CEO, DeSti Consulting, Inc., Madison, TN

Dr. Cynthia Hodge is currently president and CEO of De Sti Consulting, Inc. in Madison, Tennessee.

When Dr. Cynthia Hodge joined the faculty at the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Center in 2003, her charge was to increase access to oral health care for the citizens of Connecticut. As Director of the newly funded Pipeline, Profession & Practice: Community-Based Dental Education Project, Dr. Hodge achieved success in all aspects of the grant: increased diversity of the dental student body at UConn, integrated cultural competency into the curriculum and established the community-based dental education program which is now integral to increased access to care.

Her CFHU Fellowship presentation, “Understanding the Relationship Between Oral Health and Diabetes” was an important work, and provided the knowledge and skills needed to develop the Health Disparities Collaborative in Diabetes at a Federally Qualified Health Center. A strong advocate for community-based dental education as a means to increase access to oral health care, she established the Dental Unit of the Primary Care Clinic of the Hartford Dispensary, a substance abuse center serving nearly 3,000 clients statewide.

Dr. Hodge received her D.M.D. degree from Oregon Health Sciences University, an M.P.H. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an M.P.A. degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, a certificate in Minority Health Policy. She is the current President of the National Dental Association Foundation, lectures nationally and internationally on access to care, and is a mentor to many Health Professions hopefuls.

 


 

Phillip D Woods

Phillip D. Woods, DDS, MPH
Clinical Consultant, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Division of Dental Devices, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD

Dr. Phillip D. Woods is clinical consultant in the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Division of Dental Devices of the Food and Drug Administration in Silver Spring, Maryland. 

Previously he served a 1,200-inmate diverse population at Federal Medical Center Devens, one of the federal Bureau of Prison’s (BOP) 6 medical centers serving federal prisoners with complex medical needs. He assessed, designed, and provided services which address racial and cultural disparities in primary oral health care for at-risk populations. He was particularly interested in the oral health of racial/ethnic minorities and immigrants, and the role of systemic disease upon their oral health status.  There are 119 federal prisons in America, housing more than 211, 223 inmates. As the federal BOP National Periodontal Consultant, Dr. Woods developed training and policy to better assist general dentists working in the BOP with management of inmate periodontal needs. As the chair of the Dental Category of the U.S. Public Health Service, CDR Woods was heading the Dental Professional Advisory Committee, providing advice and consultation to the Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service on issues related to professional practices and personnel activities of Civil Service and Commissioned Corps Dentists.

Committed to the identification, recruitment, and retention of qualified minority high school students for oral health careers, he has taught periodontics at Meharry, University of Michigan, Tufts, Harvard, Boston University and University of North Carolina Dental Schools, and is a former Captain in the U.S. Army Reserves. Dr. Woods co-authored the first chapter on Oral Medicine in a prominent correctional medicine text by Michael Puisis in 2006; his earlier research deals with dental considerations in bone marrow transplant patients. He is also the 2007 recipient of the Ernest Eugene Buell Dental Award, given annually to the Junior PHS Dental Officer who has made a significant contribution in oral health education, research or service.

Dr. Woods received a dental degree from the UNC Dental School in 1984, his periodontal certificate from Tufts University in 1986; he completed an oral medicine fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital in 1989, and obtained his M.P.H. degree from Harvard in 2002 as part of the CFHU Fellowship. He became a Diplomate of the American Academy of Periodontology in November 2005. In his non-dental hours, Woods is a professional musician who leads song workshops throughout the US and abroad.

More Information

Jackie Wright, MS
Program Coordinator
Tel: 617-432-2922
Fax: 617-432-3834
E-mail: jackie_wright@hms.harvard.edu