Forum on Temporomandibular Disorders

Enriqueta C. Bond

Enriqueta C. Bond, PhD (Co-chair), served as President of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and was the Executive Officer of the Institute of Medicine. Currently she is a founding partner in QE Philanthropic Advisors that provides consulting services to non-profits on organizational structure and function. Dr. Bond’s degrees were in molecular biology and genetics however, the bulk of her career has been addressing science and health policy and the role of philanthropy in support of biomedical research. She received her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College 1961, her MA from the University of Virginia, 1963 and her PhD in molecular biology and genetics from Georgetown University, 1969. Dr. Bond Chaired the Board on African Science Academy and has served on a number of Academy of Sciences committees most recently chairing studies on Temporomandibular Disorders and on Reopening K-12 Schools during the COVOD-19 Pandemic. She is a past member of the Report Review Committee and has served on numerous government advisory groups including for the CDC and NIH. She is a recipient of numerous honors including 2008 Order of the Long Leaf Pine award, fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and alumna of the year at Wellesley College.

Christian S. Stohler

Christian S. Stohler, DDS, Dr.Med.Dent, (Co-chair), is dean of the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine and senior vice president of Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He received his DMD degree from the University of Bern, Switzerland, where he also earned a doctoral degree and obtained certificates in oral and maxillofacial surgery and subsequently in prosthodontics. From 2003-2013, he was the dental dean at the University of Maryland. Between 1979-2002, he held several positions at the University of Michigan, including professor at the School of Dentistry, research scientist at the Center for Human Growth and Development, director of research at the School of Dentistry, and professor and chair of the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences. While at Michigan, he was named the William R. Mann professor and held the Roy & Natalie Roberts endowed chair. He was a member of the NIDCR Board of Scientific Counselors from 2000-2005 and chaired the Board from 2005-2008. Dr. Stohler’s more than 120 publications have been cited about 15,000 times. Focusing on research, the absence of consistent end organ abnormalities in many chronic pain syndromes triggered his search for mechanisms that explain their clinical presentations. Contributions focus on the dissection of their complex and individually variable symptom expression, notably those involving head, neck and back muscles using model systems, delivering experientially-matched, sustained deep muscle pain. The work established the effect of deep pain on touch sensation, agonistic and antagonistic muscle function, and shed novel light on the degree to which the CNS shapes clinical severity. Using functional molecular imaging, we showed that the level of activation of mu-opioid neurotransmission in sustained pain contributes significantly to individual pain sensation and affect. Subsequently, we demonstrated that both opioidergic and dopaminergic neurotransmission and genetic variants influencing their function further modulate clinical pain and affective state ratings, contributing to the increasing body of knowledge of genetic variants modulating clinically observable phenomena. We were the first group to show placebo-induced activation of opioid neurotransmission in brain regions, including the rostral anterior cingulate, orbitofrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior and posterior insula, nucleus accumbens, amygdala and others with some of these regions overlapping with those involved in pain, affective regulation and motivated behavior. With heightened pain-stress sensitivity being thought to confer risk for a host of health conditions, we reported that a putatively functional genetic variant is associated with greater striatal dopamine release during pain. In sum, the scientific contributions show that inter-individual differences affect the CNS response to environmental challenges and thereby contribute to a person’s resilience or vulnerability to stressors, such as pain.

Briana J. Burris

Briana J. Burris, DDS, is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon who recently completed a two-year fellowship in endoscopic maxillofacial surgery and minimally invasive temporomandibular joint (TMJ) surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital after completing her residency training at Harbor-UCLA, a busy Level I Trauma Center serving Los Angeles, CA. During her fellowship, Dr. Burris held junior faculty appointments at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and worked closely with resident surgeons training in the MGH-Harvard residency program. Dr. Burris is an educator-clinician with a research focus in the diagnosis and management of immune-based synovial membrane disease. She plans to work closely with the medical device industry towards development of more sensitive, minimally invasive diagnostic modalities and design modifications to improve the ergonomics of surgical instrumentation. She has given didactic lectures for many renowned institutions, including Harvard, Harbor-UCLA, UPENN, Columbia, USC, Emory, Case Western, Tuft's, Rutgers, Cook County Hospital, and VCU. Additionally, Dr. Burris has instructed live demonstrations on injection of neuromodulators, and has instructed U.S-trained and International surgeons on the basics of TMJ arthroscopy and open surgery, using cadavers for demonstration, at weekend-long hands-on surgical training courses hosted by Nexus CMF and the TMJ mini residency.

Robert H. Carter

Robert H. Carter, MD, became Deputy Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) in 2008, where he assists in providing strong and visionary leadership. Dr. Carter received his bachelor’s degree from Williams College and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He trained in internal medicine at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center in Charlottesville. He was a fellow in rheumatology and immunology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and in molecular and clinical rheumatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Prior to joining NIAMS, Dr. Carter was Professor of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and served as Director of the Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology. He was the Principal Investigator (PI) of the NIAMS-supported UAB Rheumatic Disease Core Center, and the PI of an Autoimmunity Center of Excellence supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). He also served as staff physician at the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Currently, Dr. Carter contributes to the NIAMS’ pursuit of funding cutting-edge research on a broad spectrum of investigations, from basic science to clinical studies. He has also led efforts to optimize several large projects at NIAMS, including updating the portfolio of Centers programs, to foster interdisciplinary science and broad sharing of resources, and of Clinical Trials programs. Dr. Carter participates in several trans-NIH initiatives, including the Common Fund Health Economics Research Project, and plays leadership roles in the Human Biomolecular Atlas Project, the All of Us project in the Precision Medicine Initiative, and the Accelerating Medicines Partnership.

Natalia Chalmers

Natalia Chalmers DDS, MHSC, PhD, is a board-certified pediatric dentist, oral health policy expert, and public health advocate who brings more than 20 years of clinical, research, industry, and regulatory experience to CMS in her role as Chief Dental Officer in the Office of the Administrator. Previously, Dr. Chalmers served as a Dental Officer at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Chalmers has devoted her career to transforming scientific and health care data and information into actionable insights to address equity, improve care, and better inform policy and funding. Dr. Chalmers completed her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree at the Faculty of Dental Medicine of the Medical University of Sofia, a residency in pediatric dentistry at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, and a Ph.D. in oral microbiology from the graduate partnerships program of the University of Maryland School of Dentistry and the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research at The National Institutes Of Health, post-doctoral fellowship at the Forsyth Institute, and clinical research fellowship at the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health. Dr. Chalmers holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Research from Duke Medical University and a certificate in Drug Development and Regulatory Science from the University of California San Francisco School of Pharmacy. Her research has translated into action, improving oral care and advocating for the role health policy can play across the lifespan—particularly when it embraces dental well-being as a facet of care for the whole person.

Allen W. Cowley, Jr.

Allen W. Cowley, Jr. PhD, is a distinguished research scientist and Professor of Physiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and president of the TMJ Association. He is the husband of Terrie Cowley, the late President, and Co-founder of The TMJ Association, which advocates for better research and education on temporomandibular disorders and safe and effective treatments for patients. Dr. Cowley’s research career includes over 400 scientific publications that include foundational contributions to understanding hypertension and kidney disease. He has served as President of both the American Physiological Society (APS) and the International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS). As a career-long research grantee of the National heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health he has received the highest honors for scientific excellence given by the American Heart Association and the American Physiological Society. Dr. Cowley has also played a significant role in advancing the mission of The TMJ Association, often accompanying Ms. Cowley on trips to Washington to meet health agency leaders and legislators. He has served as a member of the TMJA Board of Directors, Chair of its Scientific advisory Board and Program Chair for the eight international TMJ research meetings the Association has held, co-funded with the NIH, since 2001. Following Ms. Cowley’s untimely death in July 2024, Dr. Cowley is the newly elected President of TMJA. He has been actively involved in initiatives like the FDA’s TMJ Patient Led RoundTable and the TMJ Medical Device Epinet Registry project, focusing on improving TMJ treatments and creating a national TMJ patient registry to enhance research. Dr. Cowley is a member of the Forum on Temporomandibular Disorders at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, where he advocates for increased research funding and treatment options. He is committed to bridging the gap between medical and dental education, beginning at the undergraduate level and fostering collaboration, teamwork, and continuing education of healthcare professionals about the complexities of TMJ disorders.

Rena D'Souza

Rena N. D’Souza, DDS, PhD, is the Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health. She is deeply committed to the organization’s mission — advance fundamental knowledge about dental, oral, and craniofacial health and disease and translate these findings into prevention, early detection, and treatment strategies that improve overall health for all individuals and communities across the lifespan. As the director of NIDCR, Dr. D’Souza oversees the institute’s annual budget of over $520 million, supporting basic, translational, and clinical research in areas of oral cancer, orofacial pain, tooth decay, periodontal disease, salivary gland dysfunction, and the craniofacial development and the oral complications of systemic diseases. Prior to becoming NIDCR’s director, Dr. D’Souza served at the University of Utah as Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs and Education for the Health Sciences. She held the Ole and Marty Jensen endowed chair in the School of Dentistry that she led as inaugural dean. As a clinician-scientist, D’Souza has been strongly committed to discovery and mentoring throughout her academic career. She is past president of the American Association for Dental and Oral Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) and the International Association for Dental Research (IADR). Dr. D’Souza is an internationally recognized researcher and has authored over 150 publications and book chapters in the areas of craniofacial development, matrix biology and tissue regeneration for over 30 years. She is a Fellow of AAAS and also of AADOCR. She was inducted into the German National Academy of Sciences in 2012 and the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine’s awarded Dr. D’Souza the Birnberg Research Medal in 2016. She received the Irwin D. Mandel Distinguished National Mentoring Award in 2017, the Shils Fund Innovation Award in 2022 and was the inaugural recipient of the Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award from UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry in 2022. Dr. D’Souza is active on several trans-NIH committees and maintains an active research laboratory in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH.

Vincent DiFabio

Vincent DiFabio, DDS, after obtaining a Certificate as a General Dental Resident at the Eastman Institute for Oral Health, proceeded to obtain a Certificate as a Resident in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery at The University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry and The Strong Memorial Hospital as well as obtaining a Master’s Degree in Dental Research with a concentration in Pathology. He served in the US Army for 2 years working in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Clinics for 2 years teaching oral surgery to include surgical extractions and impacted 3rd molar removal. He remained in the US Army Reserves working at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC. He then became a part-time Clinical Professor of OMS at University of Maryland and taught course in TMJ Diagnosis and surgical treatment and Cadaveric Courses in the 1990’s. During that time, he received an AAOMS Grant to work on a tissue preservation TMJ model at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He was all that time performing TMJ surgery open and arthroscopic surgery. He was accepted into the American Association of Temporomandibular Joint Surgeons and became President in 2012 and remains on the Executive Committee today. He was promoted to Assistant Clinical Professor by Dr. Gaston and to Associate Professor by Dr. Ord. He currently is Co-Director of The Mini Residency TMJ Surgery Course with Dr. Gary Warburton since 2014 to today. He has written several Chapters in “Contemporary TMJ Surgery” on Diagnosis, The Next Gen, and Total Joint replacement in 2019. Additionally, he was one of the authors in the recently published FDA and TMJA article: Gressler, L.E…DiFabio, V.E. et al. Building the foundation for a modern patient-partnered infrastructure to study temporomandibular disorders. Frontiers in Digital Health. DOI 10.3389/fdgth 2023.1132446. 2023 and was on the AAOMS Special Committee for TMJ presenting “TMJ Guidelines” to the Board of Directors this year and also participated in the publication update of the AAOMS Parameters of Care: Bouloux, G., Chung, B., DiFabio, V.E. et al. Guidelines: Parameters of Care for the Management of Patients with Temporomandibular Disorders. American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. 1-197. 2023.

Bradley A. Eli

During his 33 years in practice, Dr. Bradley Eli has become recognized as a national leader for his expertise in the field of Orofacial Pain and the Treatment of Sleep Disordered Breathing. He was in the first class of the Orofacial Pain Management program at UCLA which included the treatment of sleep disorders. This new specialty in dental medicine provided Dr. Eli with the opportunity to integrate his deep knowledge of dental medicine with his passion for relieving people from suffering. After graduating from UCLA, Dr. Eli expanded his clinical experience working as a practitioner and adjunct professor at Loma Linda University Medical Center, Center for Pain Management, the UCSD Department of Anesthesiology pain service, and Scripps Memorial Hospital Pain Center. Dr Eli is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain and a Diplomate of the American Board of Sleep and Breathing.

Leslie R. Halpern

Leslie Halpern, MD, DDS, PhD, received her PhD in Neuroendocrinology (City University of NY), a DDS (NYU College of Dentistry), and completed a 6-year Oral Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) Program with an MD degree from New York Medical College. She has done several fellowships in basic and applied research and obtained an MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr Halpern is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the International College of Dentists. She has received several Grants from the RWJF Center of Health Policy and the Harvard University Center of Excellence in Women’s Health that focuses on the identification of victims of Intimate Partner violence (IPV) using salivary biomarkers as risk predictors in the prognosis of health disparities in female victims exposed to violence and abuse and has published several papers in peer-reviewed journals (Area of expertise). She currently serves as Professor, Section Chief and Program director of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residency at New York Medical College and the department of Dental Medicine of Metropolitan Hospital.

Danica Marinac-Dabic

Danica Marinac-Dabic, MD, PhD, MMSc, FISPE, serves as the Associate Director at the Office of Clinical Evidence and Analysis, at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), leading the development and application of novel methods for real-world evidence and advancing the interoperability of diverse data sources to study health technologies. Prior to this position, she was the Director of the CDRH Division of Epidemiology. Prior to coming to FDA, Dr. Marinac-Dabic garnered experience in obstetrics, gynecology, and epidemiology in the academic and hospital settings as well as teaching experience in academic environment. Under her leadership, FDA launched Medical Device Epidemiology Network (MDEpiNet) to advance national/international infrastructure and test innovative methods to study devices throughout their life cycle. She led a large international group of experts at the International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF) to develop series of essential principles for international convergence of registry-generated data. She has been spearheading the interoperable strategically Coordinated Registry Networks via ecosystem partnership in 12 clinical areas by linking registries to medical claims, EHRs and patient generated health data. Dr. Marinac-Dabic was inducted as a Fellow of the International Society of Pharmaco-epidemiology and Therapeutic Risk Management (ISPE). She serves on the Advisory Board of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, Executive Operations Committee of MDEpiNet, Active Surveillance Task Force of National Evaluation System for Health Technology, National Breast Implants Registry Steering Committee, Oxford-based IDEAL Collaborative, Editorial Board of BMJ-SIT Journal and holds an Adjunct Professor position at several academic institutions.

Robert W. Mier

Robert W. Mier, DDS, graduated from the University of Detroit School of Dentistry in 1984. He completed a one-year General Practice Residency at Rhode Island Hospital and then entered private practice. He was in solo practice focusing on comprehensive general and reconstructive dentistry until 2011. Beginning in 2006 he began to focus on orofacial pain and dental sleep medicine by completing a mini-residency at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, followed by completing a Masters degree at Tufts. He began on the faculty of the Craniofacial Pain Department in 2011 and was appointed Director of Advanced Education in Orofacial Pain in 2013 until January 2015. This involved full-time direct patient care while instructing postgraduate residents. He then migrated to private practice in Milwaukee, WI in a large group practice limited to orofacial pain/TMD/dental sleep medicine. His final years of clinical practice were completed in Scottsdale, AZ at the Head Pain Institute until 2021 focusing again on strictly orofacial pain and dental sleep medicine. His interests are in teaching neuropathic pain, pharmacotherapeutics, TMD, and dental sleep medicine in addition to pursuing avenues to improve access-to-care in the field. He is the immediate past-president of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain and current Council Chair.

Joel J. Napeñas

Joel J. Napeñas, DDS, received his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree at the University of Western Ontario. He completed a general practice residency at the VA Medical Center in Dayton, OH, and oral medicine residency at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Dr. Napeñas currently is Clinical Associate Professor at Wake Forest School of Medicine, Director of the Oral Medicine Residency Program and Chief of the Department of Dentistry at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center. He engages in busy clinical practices in oral medicine, orofacial pain and hospital-based dentistry. He previously was the director of hospital based general practice residency programs at Carolinas Medical Center and at the University of Texas at Houston. There, he worked exclusively in and oversaw hospital based dental services, which focused heavily on the provision of care for medically complex and special needs patients in outpatient, inpatient, emergency room and operating room settings. Dr. Napeñas’ clinical and research interests are in oral medicine, TMD and orofacial pain and hospital dentistry and the dental management of medically complex patients. He was section head for the 2014 World Workshop of Oral Medicine, leading a group of oral medicine experts from North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia, reviewing various topics in the dental management of medically complex patients. He holds a Fellowship in Dental Surgery by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in oral medicine and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Medicine. Aside from engaging in multiple research endeavors, including being site investigator for NIH-funded research studies, he has presented extensively at national and international meetings, and has numerous publications in peer review journals, textbooks and book chapters on the topics dental management of patients with complex medical conditions (most notably on dental management of patients with acquired or inherited bleeding disorders and liver disease), oral medicine and orofacial pain.

Janey Prodoehl

Janey Prodoehl, PhD, is a Professor in the Physical Therapy Program and College of Dental Medicine Illinois at Midwestern University Downers Grove, Illinois. She completed her entry level physical therapy degree in Leeds, England, an advanced Master of Science degree in physical therapy at Rosalind Franklin University, and doctoral and post-doctoral studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has over 30 years of experience as a physical therapist primarily in out-patient orthopedic settings and was certified as an orthopedic clinical specialist by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties. Her doctoral studies examined motor control in focal dystonia, and her post-doctoral work examined functional and structural neuroimaging in patients with movement problems. She sees patients in the Physical Therapy Institute at Midwestern University with a physical therapy practice focused on neck pain, orofacial pain, and headache. Her research focus is to ask questions related to motor control that will lead to an improved understanding of musculoskeletal movement dysfunction particularly as it relates to orofacial pain and postural dysfunction. Dr. Prodoehl has authored numerous publications from her work. She is a Certified Cervical & Temporomandibular Therapist by the Physical Therapy Board of Craniofacial & Cervical Therapeutics. She is currently leading a team in the development of a national clinical practice guideline sponsored by the Academy of Orthopedic Physical Therapy, a section of the American Physical Therapy Association, on Temporomandibular disorders: diagnosis and management for physical therapists.

Mary Lou C. Sabino

Mary Lou C. Sabino, DDS, is a Board-certified Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon who practices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She completed her undergraduate training at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN before receiving her Doctor in Dental Surgery degree at the University of Minnesota, School of Dentistry. She then completed her residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Medical College of WI where she joined faculty and became Program Director until 2015. She is now Chief of Dentistry at the William S. Middleton VA Hospital and Clinics and is the OMS Consultant to the National VA Office of Dentistry in Washington DC. She continues to remain active in several American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) committees and is currently a member of the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons National Insurance Company (OMSNIC) Patient Safety and Risk Management Committee.

Christin Veasley

Christin Veasley developed chronic pain after a near-fatal accident in her teens, since then she’s worked to accelerate rigorous pain research and the translation of research findings into meaningful change for people with pain. She’s been a fervent advocate at the Congressional and federal agency levels to bring about overdue awareness of chronic pain’s impact, the urgent need for an increased federal research investment to address this crisis and the long-overlooked value of including patients and other stakeholders as partners in science. Her experiences led her to obtain a science degree, time conducting neuroscience research and to the pain research advocacy community. She’s served in advisory positions for pain initiatives within federal agencies; academic studies; and collaborative alliances and public-private partnerships working to promote pain research, care and education. She co-founded and directs the Chronic Pain Research Alliance (CPRA, an initiative of The TMJ Association) - the nation’s only patient advocacy initiative focused on pain research. With the goal of advancing timely diagnoses and effective evidence-based care for people with chronic pain, and specifically those with chronic overlapping pain conditions (COPCs), the CPRA works collaboratively with diverse stakeholders to promote high-caliber COPCs research, translate research findings into educational programs, and drive the development of safe, effective treatments and team-based models of care. To promote public awareness and advocate for change, Christin continues to speak openly about the significant impact of pain on her life. She’s authored a variety of scientific, policy and educational materials; presented at numerous medical, research, policy and federal agency meetings; and has been interviewed for print, television and radio media.

Alejandro Almarza

Alejandro Almarza, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Oral Biology in the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh with a secondary appointment in the Department of Bioengineering. He is the Director of Undergraduate Internship Programs in the Department of Bioengineering as well as the Faculty Advisor of the Student Research Group in the School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Almarza graduated with a PhD in Bioengineering from Rice University after obtaining a BS in Chemical Engineering from Florida State University. Dr. Almarza’s research interests focus on the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), both in understanding the link between chronic pain and joint damage, and regenerative therapies. Dr. Almarza has focused on tissue engineering and regenerative therapies for more than 15 years and has developed approaches for both soft and hard musculoskeletal tissues. Dr. Almarza has secured over $10M in NIH funding as PI including two R01 grants, Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Tissue Regeneration Consortium (DOCTRC) translational funding, and a grant from the NIH HEAL Initiative. Dr. Almarza multiple projects focused on emerging fields of 3D innervation mapping and synthetic biology and cellular engineering.

Kyriacos A. Athanasiou

Kyriacos Athanasiou, PhD, PhM, is a Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Irvine. He joined UCI from the University of California, Davis where he also served as the Chair of the Biomedical Engineering department. Before joining the University of California in 2009, he was the Karl F. Hasselmann Professor at Rice University. He has published hundreds of scientific articles detailing structure-function relationships and tissue engineering approaches for articular cartilage, the knee meniscus, and the temporomandibular joint.

Justin Durham

Justin Durham, PhD, is a Professor of Orofacial Pain at Newcastle University's School of Dental Sciences, an honorary consultant oral surgeon at Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s hospitals’ NHS foundation trust, and the British dental association’s chief scientific advisor in the UK. His primary research interests are in orofacial pain at the first and second translational research gaps. He has wide applied research methodological experience, receiving international awards for both clinical and pedagogical research. He established and leads a tertiary referral multidisciplinary clinical service for orofacial pain in the north of England. He is currently on secondment from being head (“dean”) of dental school and is leading the development of the UK’s first health innovation neighbourhood, a £500m regeneration project of a brownfield site in a deprived part of Newcastle. The project aims to create a neighbourhood where the housing, environment, infrastructure, research, and learning will drive and inform healthier and sustainable living across the life course through cross-sectoral collaboration on research, housing, health, and the environment.

Henri R. Ford

Henri R. Ford, MD, MHA, is Dean and Chief Academic Officer of the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Ford is a Haitian-born pediatric surgeon recognized for his global contributions in medicine including performing the first successful separation of conjoined twins in Haiti in 2015, alongside surgeons he helped train. Motivated by a desire to drive change and have a positive impact on the world, Dr. Ford has conducted groundbreaking research on the pathogenesis of necrotizing enterocolitis and has been funded by the NIH and the RWJ Foundation, among others. He is the author of more than 300 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, invited articles, abstracts and presentations. At the Miller School, Dr. Ford is developing the next generation of transformational leaders who will shape the future of medicine. Under his leadership, the Miller School has increased its research funding from the NIH from $128 million in 2018 to more than $175 million in 2022. After earning his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, Dr. Ford received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He then completed his surgical internship and residency at New York Hospital Weill-Cornell Medical College, a research fellowship in immunology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and a clinical fellowship in pediatric surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. He also received a Master of Health Administration degree from USC. Dr. Ford is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Surgeons (England), and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He serves on the editorial board of numerous scientific journals. He is a member of the Harvard Medical School Visiting Committee, the Board of Trustees of Princeton University, the Board of Directors of the Association of American Medical College (AAMC), and he chairs the Council of Deans of the AAMC. Dr. Ford is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and is President-elect of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). He is past president of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons, the Surgical Infection Society, the American Pediatric Surgical Association, and the Association for Academic Surgery, which established the “Henri Ford Junior Faculty Research Award” in his honor. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Gold Humanism in Medicine award from the AAMC, the Arnold Salzberg award from the Surgical Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Owen Wangensteen Scientific Forum Award from the ACS, which recognizes iconic figures in academic surgery for their leadership, mentorship, and scholarship.

Karen Kelly-Blake

Karen Kelly-Blake, PhD, is Associate Director of Academic Programming and Associate Professor in the Center for Bioethics and Social Justice and the Department of Medicine in the College of Human Medicine. Dr. Kelly-Blake is a medical anthropologist, health services researcher, and bioethicist. Her research interests include shared medical decision-making, decision aid development and implementation, clinician communication skills training, chronic illness management, colorectal cancer prevention screening, and medical workforce policy and development. She is a Co-Investigator with the NHLBI sponsored Office-Guidelines Applied to Practice Improving Diabetic Patients’ Adherence to Treatment and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease (Office-GAP IMPACT) program, and the CDC sponsored National Network to Innovate for COVID-19 and Adult Vaccine Equity (NNICE) project. The research projects are to evaluate implementation of the Office Guidelines Applied to Practice Program for medication adherence for heart disease management in people with diabetes in Federally Qualified Health Centers across the state of Michigan and to develop a national network of partners to mitigate the disparate impact of COVID-19 and boost confidence in and receipt of COVID-19 and other adult vaccinations, with a particular focus on urban and rural African Americans.

Lisa Marie Schmidt

Ms. Lisa Marie Schmidt is a dedicated, long-standing member of the TMJA Board with a proven track record of advocacy for TMD patients. She holds a degree in Clinical Laboratory Sciences from the University of Massachusetts. Lisa has presented at the NASEM Study on TMD and serves on NASEM’s forum committee. Additionally, she is an active participant in the FDA’s MDEpiNet Coordinated Registry Network and the TMJ Patient-led Round Table. Her advocacy efforts extend to serving as a TMJ patient representative for projects at the University of Minnesota, UC Irvine, and other institutions. As a patient with severe temporomandibular disorder (TMD) who has undergone numerous surgeries, Lisa brings a wealth of lived experience to her advocacy work. Her journey has profoundly shaped her understanding of TMD, allowing her to offer invaluable insights into the physical, emotional, and psychological challenges faced by patients. Lisa’s personal experience, combined with her professional dedication, drives her passion for improving the lives of others affected by TMD.

Grace Wittenberg

Grace Wittenberg is a patient with a long history of temporal mandibular joint disorder and a second-year medical student at the Medical College of Wisconsin-Central Wisconsin in Wausau, Wisconsin. She is from Rapid City, South Dakota, and obtained her Bachelor of Science in Psychology with minors in Biology and Cognitive Science from Villanova University in May 2021. Grace is passionate about advocating for patients with disabilities of all types. Her career interests include geriatric medicine, palliative medicine, and quality improvement research in long-term care.

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Forum on Temporomandibular Disorders

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Forum on Temporomandibular Disorders

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