Member Directory
Joanna Aalboe, RDH, MPH, is an assistant professor and a public health dental hygienist at the UK College of Dentistry. She works in the Division of Dental Public Health in research and outreach. Aalboe is also a doctoral student in the educational policy studies and evaluation program at UK’s College of Education. She can be reached at joanna.aalboe@uky.edu.
Pamela Stein Vanarsdall, DMD, MPH, is a faculty member at the University of Kentucky (UK) Colleges of Medicine and Dentistry in Lexington, where she teaches geriatric and public health dentistry. Prior to beginning her career in academia, Stein spent 13 years as the attending dentist at two nursing homes. She conducts research on sustainable strategies for improving the oral hygiene of nursing home residents, and has created an oral care curriculum for caregivers of older adults.
Joel B. Epstein, DMD, MSD, FRCD(C), FDS RCS(E), is a professor in the Department of Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and a collaborative member of the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute in Los Angeles. He is also a consulting staff member in the Division of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Monrovia, California.
Shamin Salemohamed, RDH, BSc, has been a dental hygienist for more than 20 years. She works in the oral oncology program at BC Cancer Agency in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Firoozeh Samim, DMD, MSc, is a fourth-year oral medicine, oral pathology resident at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. She can be reached at firoozehsamim@gmail.com.
Chandur Wadhwani, BDS, MSD, practices prosthodontics in Bellevue, Washington. He serves as an affiliate instructor in the Department of Restorative Dentistry at the University of Washington in Seattle, and adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Restorative Dentistry at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California. A member of Decisions in Dentistry’s editorial advisory board and an author of more than 70 peer-reviewed publications, he received the Distinguished Lecturer Award from the American College of Prosthodontists in 2018. He can be reached at: cpkw1@live.com.
Pilar Valderrama, DDS, MS has worked in private practice, dental education and research. She is an adjunct assistant professor at Texas A&M University, Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas. Board certified in periodontics, she is a fellow of the International Team for Implantology, as well as a fellow in the International College of Dentists and American College of Dentists. Valderrama has authored on periodontal regeneration and implantology, and has spoken at national and international meetings. She is also a member of the American Academy of Periodontology, American Academy of Osseointegration, International Association for Dental Research, American Dental Association, Texas Society of Periodontists, Southwest Society of Periodontists, Texas Dental Association and the Hispanic Dental Association. Valderrama can be reached at pilarvalderramaa@gmail.com.
JoAnn Gurenlian, RDH, MS, PhD, AAFAOM, FADHA, is the director of education, research, and advocacy for the American Dental Hygienists’ Association and professor emerita of the Department of Dental Hygiene at Idaho State University in Pocatello. She is also a member of the Dimensions of Dental Hygiene Editorial Advisory Board.
Krista Beaty, RDH, BS, is a graduate student in the Department of Dental Hygiene at Idaho State University (ISU) in Pocatello, and also works as a clinician in southwest Idaho. Beaty specializes in periodontics, restorative care and education. She can be reached at beatkris@isu.edu.
