Terri Hunter-Davis has joined the UCSF School of Dentistry as Manager, Communications and Content Development. Reporting to Marc Fredson, Director of Marketing and Communications, Terri will manage communications tools such as the School of Dentistry website and e-newsletters, help formulate strategy for our social media channels, and develop audience-tailored content for these and other platforms.

Terri brings 20-plus years of experience in journalism and marketing communications. She comes to the School of Dentistry from UC Office of the President in Oakland, where she was on the team that overhauled and managed the systemwide UC website. Terri also launched digital platforms in the marketing communications/advertising unit at the San Jose Mercury News. Her experience includes editing, web production, content development, print design and multimedia.

Terri will work closely with the school’s departments, clinics and leadership, as well as University Relations, Development and Alumni Relations, the campus community and UC system to promote and advocate for the school and UCSF Dental Center, its clinical enterprise.
 

The Commission on Approval of Teams has re-approved the UCSF Craniofacial Center as a Cleft Palate Team and Craniofacial Team for a five-year period beginning Jan. 1, 2016.

The commission, established by the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association, oversees an approval process for teams. Approved teams undergo an external evaluation and demonstrate compliance with the commission’s  standards. Approval by the commission is considered a marker of team excellence.

“This team designation is the gold standard for the field,” said Ophir Klein, MD, PhD, medical director of the Craniofacial Center.  The recognition “is very prestigious, and indicates that craniofacial care at UCSF is truly outstanding.”

The center, which has the UCSF School of Dentistry as its academic home, recently moved to the new UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. The center has long prided, itself on providing care to all patients with craniofacial anomalies, regardless of ability to pay, Klein said.

The UCSF Craniofacial Center, established in 1954, is the longest-standing comprehensive cleft and craniofacial team on the West Coast. The center treats patients with conditions affecting the growing face and head, whether they occur before birth or are acquired after birth, such as from trauma or tumors.

Related stories:

Native Sons' Gift to Craniofacial Center Continues Long Tradition

By Bill Stein

Innovative research is underway at the UCSF School of Dentistry to produce a Bluetooth smart retainer for orthodontics patients. The goal of the SmartByte retainer is to increase the amount of time a patient wears the device, ultimately ensuring the best possible treatment outcome.

“Unfortunately, one of the frustrating aspects of orthodontics is that patients do not always wear their retainers as much as they should after their braces are removed,” says Eric Castle, DMD, an orthodontic resident in the School of Dentistry. “This often leads to the teeth relapsing out of alignment, requiring retreatment with braces to correct.” Generally, orthodontists agree that a retainer should be worn fulltime for a minimum of six months after braces have been removed.

A team comprised of Drs. Castle, Shuvo Roy, PhD (School of Pharmacy and Medicine), Gerald Nelson, DDS, Sneha Oberoi, DDS, and Philip Chung, PhD (UCSF Biodesign Laboratory) is creating a retainer that includes a Bluetooth chip, enabling orthodontists and parents to determine the amount of time someone is wearing their retainer. The retainer will be part of a package that includes a custom app for iOS, Android and Windows phones and tablets.

There have been several attempts to develop retainers that track usage in the last 10 years. However, the retainers currently on the market require the use of a docking station in the orthodontist’s office, so unless patients make frequent visits to their orthodontist, there’s no ability to intervene and help a noncompliant patient.

Patient compliance with retainers is a significant concern. Up to 70 percent of patients (and their parents) forget the necessity of wearing a retainer, while wear time is overestimated by a third of actual time. Forgetting to wear a retainer is a leading reason for poor compliance, along with discomfort, the hassle of wearing a device and speech difficulties.

The SmartByte retainer works through a sensor placed inside the retainer that can differentiate between body temperature and room temperature to determine if the device is being worn. The information then flows to the patient’s mobile phone, a cloud database and ultimately to the orthodontist’s computer server. An app that accompanies the retainer has the ability to incentivize patients with prizes and other rewards when they reach goals for retainer use.

The Smartbyte retainer currently is in the design stage. A small pilot trial is expected to start in the coming months, with a larger trial expected to begin in the next two years.

Each year, the UCSF School of Dentistry celebrates donors whose generosity makes a very real impact on today’s students. The VIP reception is an opportunity for donors to meet scholarship recipients and to hear firsthand the difference that their gifts make. The bond between donors and students was once again on display in the Lange Room at the Kalmanovitz Library on Oct. 22 for the fourth consecutive VIP reception.

The event recognized the efforts of nearly two dozen donors, including Pete Giers, DDS ’61, and his wife Caroline, who established an endowed scholarship in 2008. Dr. Giers was also instrumental in helping organize the Class of ’61’s 50-year class gift.

“We recognize that for many students the financial aspects of dental school can be challenging,” said Giers. “By helping out in some way, we can help ensure that attending dental school is not dictated by finances so much as it is scholarship and interest in dentistry.”

Three scholarship recipients, Erika Martinez, Jessica Lam and Shaun Abrams, shared their personal stories and professional aspirations with approximately 60 attendees, including current faculty and many students. They emphasized the important role that scholarships play in their lives and in their ability to achieve their professional dreams. Watch Abrams’ speech here.

“It’s always heartwarming to see donors and recipients interact with each other,” said John Featherstone, dean of the School of Dentistry. “Donors appreciate the opportunity to meet scholarship recipients while students feel that much more motivated after meeting those who are supporting their efforts.”

Related links:

Dean's Scholarship for Opportunity (DSO)

By Nicholas Weiler

Smile! For the first time, researchers have captured on video how teeth find their way to the right spot in the jaw to give you that winning grin. The research, led by scientists at UC San Francisco, showed in mice that molar progenitor cells migrate to their final locations during development, rather than forming the teeth in place, as researchers had previously thought.

The findings — published online Dec. 21 in the journal Developmental Cell — should give developmental biologists a lot to chew on. They suggest that the progenitor cells that produce other organs could also exhibit as-yet unrecognized wanderlust, and could help explain how teeth and other organs ended up in such diverse configurations in different species over the course of evolution. The insights may even have implications for understanding how cancerous cells migrate to invade other tissues.

For decades, developmental biologists have puzzled over the question of how the genetic code instructs organs to form in the right places in the bodies of different animals. “It’s a crucial part of development,” said Ophir Klein, MD, PhD, Larry L. Hillblom Distinguished Professor in Craniofacial Anomalies, chair of the Divisions of Craniofacial Anomalies and Orthodontics at UCSF, and senior author of the new study. “For example, you need to get the eyes in the right part of the face. The limb positioning needs to be perfectly balanced. For each particular species, the teeth need to be at the right place in the jaw for the animal to be able to eat or to defend itself. But we knew little to nothing about how they get there, at least in mammals.”

Read the complete story at UCSF News Center.

The dental practice of Dr. Loeta Robles (right) was once that of her mentor, Dr. Barbro Beckett (left).

By Bill Stein

Sometimes one’s career path takes one far and wide. Sometimes it may be right under one’s nose.

Or, in Loeta Robles’ case, right across the street.

Back in 1991, “I was looking for a part-time job after school and saw an opening for a sterilization assistant at the dental practice across from my high school in Chico,” she said. “I didn’t give it a whole lot of thought.”

She got the job, and the attention of the dentist, Barbro Beckett, DDS. Beckett saw potential in the teenager, and encouraged Robles to pursue a career in dentistry. Likewise, the field caught Robles’ attention. She decided to become a dental hygienist, and obtained her bachelor of science degree in dental hygiene from UCSF in 1996.

Robles returned to Chico to practice dental hygiene for the next 14 years in Beckett’s practice. As she became increasingly interested in the clinical aspect of the practice, Robles decided to go back to UCSF for her dental education.

“I remember that I was the youngest student in my hygiene class and the oldest student in my dental class,” recalled Robles, who earned her DDS in 2015.

Juggling act

Being an older student brought its own set of challenges. Robles was the mother of two toddlers and lived 175 miles from the UCSF campus. She and her family initially planned to move to San Francisco, but eventually opted to stay in Chico so the children’s routine wouldn’t be disrupted and her husband wouldn’t have to leave his job.

Robles did all of her class work Monday through Friday. She left her house in Chico at 3 a.m. for class every Monday morning and didn’t return until 10 p.m. on Friday night.

Despite the heavy demands of being a fulltime dental student living hours from her family, Robles was still an active participant in family matters. “I became a cyber parent and used FaceTime a lot,” she said. “I’d have breakfast and dinner — virtually — with my family most nights and played games and read books to my children. We made it work.”

In addition to support from her family, the community of Chico rallied to help out the family when they needed it. The neighborhood preschool went out of its way to make sure Robles’ children were enrolled, and the teachers sometimes held their children late or transported them to a place where her husband or babysitter could get them.

“They did so much out of the goodness of their heart to help me get through school,” Robles recalled. “It’s why I’m so excited to be back here serving my community.”

Hard work earns rewards

For her hard work and determination, Robles received the UCSF Alumni Association’s Most Motivated Student Award. “Loeta is a fantastic example of dedication and commitment,” says Dabby Perry, PhD., associate dean for education and student affairs, who worked with Robles to help her attain the prerequisites she needed for dental school.

Today, Robles owns the very practice where she started as a 16-year-old sterilization assistant. Beckett, who sold the practice to Robles in October 2015, has been a mentor and “second mother” to her for more than 20 years. Much of the clinic’s team has remained intact since Robles started her after-school job, contributing to the clinic’s family atmosphere.

Working in her hometown, it’s not uncommon for Robles to treat former teachers and classmates. And when patients ask her where she went to school, she simply points across the street to Pleasant Valley High School. It turns out you really can go home again.
 

When Francis S. was born, nobody knew whether he’d survive. His whole life, strangers have underestimated him just because he looks different. Despite this, he found the strength to fight against negative attitudes and achieve things that no one expected. This is the story of a life with Treacher Collins Syndrome — and the life of a UCSF alumnus.

The Bone Lab — a group of researchers from UCSF and elsewhere — tell Francis' story in this podcast.

The health of a large urban population — typically diverse in everything from age, race and ethnicity to sexual preference, language, socioeconomic status, living situation and health status — depends on an almost unfathomable mix of factors.

Certainly the accessibility of high-quality, culturally sensitive health care (including primary, emergency, specialty, mental health and oral health care) is the most obvious factor. Yet as anyone involved in public and population health knows, insurance coverage, the availability of nutritious food, air quality, community violence, transportation, job- and family-related stress and many other things also contribute.

Addressing all of these concerns is the ongoing challenge for health professionals in big cities. More often than not, advanced practice nurses are at the center of the struggle. Whether it’s a clinical nurse specialist in an intensive care unit, a nurse practitioner delivering primary care at a community clinic, a public health nurse formulating policy or any of a number of other roles, nurses’ unique training and experience often provide the sinew needed to tie together critical contributors to an entire population’s health.

To illustrate this, UCSF School of Nursing's Science of Caring spoke recently with three distinguished alumnae — each a UCSF 150th Anniversary Alumni Excellence Award winner — who play outsized roles in maintaining the health of populations in two of California’s largest cities. Among them: Linda Centore, who works to craft sensitive dentistry for those most in need. Read her story here.

  
From left: Sarah Knox, PhD; Natalie Hastings, DMD; and Biana Roykh, DDS

Several School of Dentistry faculty and alumni have received industry accolades.

Sarah Knox, PhD, assistant professor in the Cell and Tissue Biology Department, is now president of the Salivary Research Group. She moves to this position from president-elect.

The Salivary Research Group forms one of the main scientific groups within the International Association for Dental Research (IADR), the leading forum for dental researchers to present their oral care research results.

Kudos to Natalie Hastings, DMD, and Biana Roykh, DDS, for completing the 2015 American Dental Education Association and Academy for Academic Leadership’s Institute for Teaching and Learning program! The ADEA/AAL ITL is a professional development program for early- and mid-career faculty, and private practice dentists who are interested in academia.

Hastings is the division chair of clinical general dentistry, and predoctoral director of fixed prosthodontics. She completed her residency in prosthodontics here at the School of Dentistry.

Roykh, a 2006 School of Dentistry alumna, is director of the UCSF Dental Clinic at Parnassus. She also is a graduate of the UCSF-San Francisco State University Dental Post-Baccalaureate program.
 

Source: American College of Prosthodontists

New guidelines give practitioners and patients a framework for caring for dental restorations so that they last a lifetime.

Whether an emergency crown or a long-planned-for set of veneers, dental restorations can last a lifetime. But these and other restorations require care, just as do natural teeth. New guidelines from the American College of Prosthodontists help practitioners and patients keep restorations in top condition.

The ACP led a panel of experts who critically evaluated and debated findings from two comprehensive systematic reviews covering a decade of the research literature. In formulating the clinical practice guidelines, the panel considered this top risk: failure of tooth- and implant-borne restorations.

"The new clinical practice guidelines will help dentists and hygienists to standardize effective oral health maintenance and improve patient care," said Donald A. Curtis, DMD, FACP, of UCSF’s School of Dentistry. Curtis and Lily T. Garcia, DDS, MS, FACP, put the guidelines to the test with rigorous peer review to ensure that they are sound, scientifically-based and can improve patient outcomes for long-lasting restorations.

Regular dental hygiene is just as necessary for restorations — crowns, bridges, veneers and implants — as for natural teeth. In addition, the new guidelines recommend patients visit their dentists at least every six months for clinical exams, during which restorations should be cleaned, adjusted, repaired or replaced as needed. The guidelines not only recommend how and how often practitioners should see patients for dental restoration maintenance and follow-up, but how they should educate patients to take care of the restorations at home.

"Although clinical practice guidelines are often used in medicine, they have not been used as much in dentistry,” Curtis said.  “Adding a clinical practice guideline on this important topic will establish a baseline and help to standardize care."

And maintaining that standard helps patients as well as clinicians.

“Often patients are unaware of the required brushing and general maintenance needs when they have expensive implant restorations,” said Carl Driscoll, DMD, FACP, president of the ACP.

“If you don’t take care of your restored teeth,” Garcia added, “you are at risk of losing your teeth and your investment in them.”

Related links

• Journal of Prosthodontics article
• Department of Preventative and Restorative Dental Sciences 
• GoToAPro.org (patient and consumer information)
• Prosthodontics.org (information for oral health professionals)

Photo by Susan Merrell

By Jyoti Madhusoodanan

First-year dentistry student Rhett Berg has just embarked on his health care career, but he already has years of experience as a caregiver – often in extremely challenging situations.

Growing up in Roseburg, Ore., Berg struggled through a difficult childhood: his parents’ divorce, an abusive stepfather and then an accident that left his stepfather severely disabled. Berg began caring for his mother and siblings early on, and worked fulltime through college to financially support his family.

“I was in a place without a lot of options. I wasn’t an athlete so that wasn’t a solution either,” Berg says. “But you don’t have to live in the circumstances you were born into.”

>> Read the complete story at UCSF News Center.

Mark Feb. 6 on your calendar: It's Give Kids a Smile Day here at UCSF.

Children ages 3-17 are invited to receive free dental care: dental sealants, fluoride treatments, screenings, oral hygiene education and toothbrush, toothpaste and floss. UCSF student dentists, residents, faculty and staff will take part in the annual event, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 6 at UCSF Dental Center. The event is organized by the UCSF chapter of the California Public Health Association-North.

In addition to the dental perks, kids also can flash their pearly whites in photos with our surprise superhero.

For more information, email CPHANatUCSF@gmail.com.

>> Download the Give Kids a Smile poster

More than 100 participants took part in the School of Dentistry’s first Cleft and Craniofacial Symposium on Jan. 9 at the Mission Bay campus. Dr. Karin Vargervik, DDS, was honored at the symposium, which focused on a multi-disciplinary approach to managing cleft lip, palate and other craniofacial anomalies. Guest speakers included Vargervik; Michael Cunningham, MD, PhD; Sally Peterson Falzone, PhD; Janice Lee, DDS, MD; Ophir Klein, MD, PhD; and William Hoffman, MD.

View a slideshow of scenes from the symposium:

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our longtime colleague, mentor and friend, Dr. Margaret (Peggy) Walsh, Professor Emerita. Dr. Walsh contributed to UCSF’s mission and vision for more than 37 years. She was a highly distinguished international and national leader, educator and researcher in the areas of dental hygiene, community-based oral disease prevention, and tobacco cessation.

Dr. Walsh was tireless in her efforts to research the effects of smokeless tobacco on health and to find ways to decrease its initiation and use. She would provide tobacco cessation counseling to users including baseball players, allowing them to call her on nights and weekends; and she traveled tens of thousands of miles to reach rural high-schoolers for her research studies.

During her illustrious career, Dr. Walsh received recognition for her leadership in the areas of dental hygiene and tobacco prevention and cessation. Highlights of her many awards include induction to both the National Dental Hygiene and National Dental Honor Societies; recipient of the 2006 Medal of Honor and the 2011 Legacy of Leadership Award from the UCSF School of Dentistry Dental Alumni Association; and the national 2014 Esther Wilkins Dental Hygiene Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 2008, she assumed responsibility for developing a proposal for a new Master of Science degree program in dental hygiene, approved in 2010 by the UC Office of the President and the UC Board of Regents. Twelve graduate learners enrolled in the summer of 2011, with Dr. Walsh serving as the program director. Graduates of the program all have benefited from Dr. Walsh’s creative energy, wisdom and guidance, and are now continuing her legacy of leadership, oral health and tobacco research, and teaching across California.

A celebration of Dr. Walsh’s life will be held at the Parnassus campus. The location and time will be announced soon.

John D. B. Featherestone, MSc, PhD, Dean

Frederick C. Finzen, DDS, Interim Chair, Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences

Susan Hyde DDS, MPH, PhD
Chair, Division of Oral Epidemiology and Dental Public Health

UCSF School of Dentistry

>> Read more: UCSF School of Dentistry Magazine, Vol. 8, 2013

Elena Ortega, RDH, MS, clinical instructor in the Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences (PRDS), director of the Dental Hygiene Affiliation Program, has been appointed interim program director of the Master of Science in Dental Hygiene, effective Feb. 1, 2016.

Ortega assumes her new role upon the retirement of Margaret (Peggy) Walsh, professor emerita. Walsh, who passed away this week, was a highly distinguished international and national leader, educator, and researcher in the areas of dental hygiene, community-based oral disease prevention, and tobacco cessation. She contributed to UCSF’s mission and vision for over 37 years. In 2008, Walsh assumed responsibility for developing a proposal for a Master of Science degree program in dental hygiene which was approved in 2010 by the Office of the President and the Board of Regents. Twelve graduate learners enrolled in the summer of 2011 with Walsh serving as the program director.

Ortega obtained her RDH degree from UCSF in 1988 and graduated from UCSF’s inaugural Master of Science in dental hygiene class of 2012. She has served as a volunteer faculty member since July 1, 2013 and received a clinical appointment in 2014. During this time, she was mentored by Walsh on the various aspects of program administration.

"I hope to carry forward Dr. Walsh's vision of graduate dental hygiene education with the goal of improved global health," Ortega said.

Ralph Raya, DDS, has been named program director for the Externship Program and course director of PCC 148. 

Raya graduated from UCSF School of Dentistry in 1980. Prior to dental school, Raya served in the U.S. Navy.  After earning his degree, Raya provided humanitarian dental treatment in the Republic of the Philippines, Republic of Vietnam, Timor Leste (East Timor), Papua New Guinea and the Federated States of Micronesia. He deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and represented Navy Dentistry in a joint mission with the U.S. Army. He worked with the surgeon general of Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Yaftali, and trained Afghan National Police dentists and National Army dentists at the National Military Hospital in Kabul.

After ending his military career in 2010, Raya returned to Southern California, where he engaged in private practice. He soon had a new passion: a desire to teach at UCSF. By 2015 he was offered a part-time position in the student clinic. Raya has been recognized for his diligence, conscientious patient care and supportive teaching style. 

Several School of Dentistry students are taking part this spring in a number of prestigious research competitions under the auspices of the American Association for Dental Research.

Five first year dental students have been chosen to compete for AADR Student Research Fellowship awards, which will be announced at the AADR Scientific Session, March 16–19 in Los Angeles.

The students and their mentors are: Bronwyn Hagan (Jeffrey Bush), Linda Kim (George Taylor), Daniel Ta (Grayson Marshall), Beinan Zhao (Stuart Gansky) and Grace Zhu (Rich Schneider).

These fellowships, supported by several major industrial companies as well as by AADR group chapters, sections and members, are sponsored and administered by the AADR and have been created to encourage dental students living in the United States to consider careers in oral health research.

Mychi Nguyen (D3) has been chosen as a finalist to compete in the Hatton Competition – Junior Category. The competition is designed for junior investigators (junior, senior and post-doctoral) who exhibit potential for a productive career in dental research.

Wendy Fu (D2) has been chosen to compete in the 2016 DENTSPLY/Caulk Student Research Group competition. The competition was created to encourage students living in the United States to conduct original research and to be reviewed by their peers.

"Since 1980, the UCSF School of Dentistry has supported the engagement of dental students in research through the Summer Research Fellowship Program," said Thomas Lang, PhD, associate dean for research. "Over the years, these students have made outstanding contributions that have resulted in national recognition. By their selection to compete
for the AADR Student Research Fellowship Awards and the Hatton and DENTSPLY/Caulk competitions, our current students are upholding this tradition."

Related links:

• AADR Hatton Competition
• DENTSPLY/Caulk Student Research Group competition
• American Association for Dental Research

Give Kids a Smile 2016 at UCSF was a rousing success! Dozens of student, pre-dental, staff and faculty volunteers took part Feb. 6 at the Dental Center, entertaining children and providing free dental care. Here are some scenes from the day's events:

A five-year strategic plan for the UCSF School of Dentistry was completed in late 2015 and is guiding the decisions we make and the work we will do over the next five years.

Over the coming months, you will read stories about the strategic plan in action across the school, featuring its five areas of emphasis: patients, education, discovery, people and business.

Our mission, vision and values have been updated.

Our mission, the work we do every day, is advancing health through excellence in patient care, education and discovery.

Our vision, where we aspire to go, is to be the preeminent innovator in oral and craniofacial health worldwide.

Diversity and inclusion was added as a new school value. Our values are:

• Accountability
• Diversity and inclusion
• Excellence
• Innovation
• Integrity
• Leadership
• Respect
• Social responsibility

Our tagline is Excellence in patient care, education and discovery. This is a simple phrase, easy to remember, that sets the standard we aim to achieve every day.

According to John D.B. Featherstone, UCSF School of Dentistry dean, "Excellence is our watchword. We have agreed to strive for excellence in all that we do. We want our patients to say, 'We received excellent care at UCSF Dental Center,' and our alumni of the future to be proud that they received an excellent education at UCSF. Our excellence in discovery will be rewarded with continuing grant support, prestigious publications and applications of new knowledge to improved health care."

Look for more about our strategic plan in March. 

Related link:
School of Dentistry Strategic Plan

Dr. John Featherstone, dean of the UCSF School of Dentistry, is pleased to announce the appointment of Elsbeth Kalenderian, DDS, MPH, PhD, of Harvard University, as the new chair of the Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences at the UCSF School of Dentistry. Dr. Kalenderian will assume her new role on June 27. 

A debt of gratitude is owed to Dr. Fritz Finzen for serving as interim chair of PRDS for the past year.  He will continue in this capacity until Dr. Kalenderian assumes her position.

Elisabeth (Elsbeth) Kalenderian was born in the Netherlands. She received her DDS degree in 1983 from Rijks Universiteit Groningen, The Netherlands. She moved to Boston as a Fulbright Scholar, completing an internship and residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery from Boston University in 1986. In 1989, she received a master’s in public health from Harvard School of Public Health.

In 2007, Dr. Kalenderian made the transition to an academic career at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, starting as assistant dean for clinical affairs and rising to associate professor and chair of the Department of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology. She also is the chief of quality for the Harvard Dental Clinic. In 2013 she obtained a PhD defending her thesis, “EZCodes: a diagnostic terminology as the foundational step of quality for the dental profession.”

Dr. Kalenderian has published more than 40 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals and is frequently asked to be a speaker at conferences for quality improvement, dental diagnostic terminologies, meaningful use, leadership and patient safety. She currently is principle investigator on four NIH-funded R01 grants, including two projects focusing on the development and implementation of the DDS, a novel dental diagnostic interface terminology (previously called the EZCodes) as well as projects focused on patient safety and quality metrics.

Dr. Kalenderian's administrative career incudes leadership positions as administrator at Children’s Medical Center, Boston (1990-95); director of strategic planning and provider relations, and vice president, medical management and patient care services at North Shore Medical Center, Salem, Mass. (1995-2001); executive director of Transition House, Cambridge, Mass. (2001-04); and vice president for quality improvement initiatives and senior vice president for health strategies at the American Heart Association (2004-07).