Congratulations to 15 faculty members at the University of Florida College of Dentistry who were part of recent promotion and tenure announcements effective July 1, 2012.
Full-time faculty who received promotions and were awarded tenure are Seunghee Cha and Luciana Shaddox. Full-time faculty who received promotions are Abimola Adewumi, Gail Childs, Calogero Dolce, Micaela Gibbs, Emma Lewis, Marc Ottenga and Christopher Spencer.
In addition, six courtesy/adjunct faculty who are assigned to the college’s Hialeah Dental Center received promotions: Francisco Granda, Reuben Hertz, Frederick Knoll, Cesar Sabates, Barry Shipman and Susan Socas.
Suenghee Cha, Ph.D., was promoted from assistant professor to associate professor with tenure in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Sciences. She earned her dental degree in 1993 from Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, and her Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Florida in 2001. She worked for several years in private practice before joining the University of Florida in 2004.
Cha has developed three patents, two in collaboration with other faculty and one as the principle researcher. She is also involved in clinical teaching activities in the Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology Clinic.
Luciana Shaddox, D.D.S., Ph.D., was awarded tenure and a promotion from assistant professor to associate professor in the Department of Periodontology. She earned her dental and Ph.D. degrees from the School of Dentistry in Piracicaba, University of Campinas in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and completed post-doctoral training in oral microbiology related to periodontology at the University of Florida.
In 2006, she was appointed as a tenure-accruing assistant professor at the college and has since focused her efforts on teaching, research and service. She has received national recognition for her development of an independent externally-funded clinical and translational research program focused on periodontitis, diabetes and the use of antibiotics in the treatment of these conditions.
Abimbola Adewumi, B.D.S., was promoted to clinical associate professor in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry where she has served on faculty since 2005. Her primary focus is teaching and research, and she also provides clinical service. She earned her dental degree in 1996 from the University of Ibadan College of Dentistry in Nigeria and completed a Fellowship in Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Florida in 2005.
Adewumi earned her Diplomate status with the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry in 2008 and serves professional organizations at the national and international levels, as well as being active in college committees, supporting college student groups and volunteering international service. She serves as an integral member of the UF Craniofacial Clinic team as the pediatric dentist, working with children born with cleft lip and/or palate.
Gail Childs, M.P.H., was promoted from Associate in Dentistry to Senior Associate in Dentistry the Office of Education where she works in the Office of Education and the Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Sciences. Childs joined the college in 1996 and the majority of her focus is currently within the Office of Education where she oversees the administration, instructional support and evaluation for the D.M.D. courses. She also facilitates the curriculum management process and planning for the Curriculum Committee.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from Florida State University in 1982 and went on to earn her master’s in Public Health from Emory University in 1986.
Calogero Dolce, D.D.S., was promoted from associate professor to professor in the Department of Orthodontics where he has served as faculty since 1996 and is currently the graduate program director. Dolce earned his dental degree in 1988 from the University of New York in Buffalo and his certificate in Orthodontics from the University of Florida in 1993.
He devotes most of his time to teaching but also is involved in research, service and clinical practice and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics. He is also very involved in college and university committees.
Micaela Gibbs, D.D.S., has been promoted from clinical assistant professor to clinical associate professor in the Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Science
where she’s served as the director of Community-Based Programs since 2007. Gibbs earned her dental degree from the University of Colorado in 1994 and completed a General Practice Residency and a Fellowship in Health and Neck Cancer at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She worked in private practice and was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Colorado before joining the University of Florida in 2003.
She oversees the administration of the college’s UF Statewide Network for Community Oral Health which includes three college-owned clinics and 10 partnership clinics across the state and is the principle investigator on several grants.
Emma Lewis, B.D.S., has been promoted from clinical assistant professor to clinical associate professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery where she serves as the director of the residency program. Lewis earned her dental degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1990, and her medical degree from the University of Western Australia in 2000. She also completed her oral and maxillofacial training in 2000 through the University of Adelaide and the University of Western Australia.
She became a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons in 2002. She completed a fellowship in oral and maxillofacial surgery here at UF in 2002, followed by a general surgery internship at Shands UF in 2004, and then joined the college as a full time faculty member in 2005. She is certified by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
Marc Ottenga, D.D.S., was promoted to clinical professor in the Department of Restorative Dental Sciences where he has served as a clinical associate professor since joining the college in 2005. His primary focus is on teaching DMD students and was voted 2006 Clinical Teachers of the Year by the students.
He earned his dental degree from The Ohio State University in 1980 and worked in private practice for 21 years before moving into the academic world at the University of Florida. He is a member of the Academy of Operative Dentistry.
Chr
istopher Spencer, D.D.S., was promoted from clinical assistant professor to clinical associate professor in the Department of Restorative Dental Sciences. He joined the college in 2006 after completing a fellowship program here in Craniofacial Pain and Temporomandibular Dysfunction. In 1978 he earned his dental degree from the University of the Pacific Dugoni School of Dentistry and then worked in private practice from 1980 to 2004. Spencer’s primary focus is teaching dental students as a TEAM leader, and he also works in research and direct patient care.
Spencer is active in several college committees, participates in college mission trips, is serves as the faculty advisor for the Gainesville Christian Ministries and the Christian Dental Society.
Francisco “Frank” Granda, D.M.D., M.S., M.D., was promoted from adjunct assistant clinical professor to adjunct clinical associate professor at the Hialeah Dental Center where he’s been involved in teaching since 2007, first as a courtesy clinical assistant professor before becoming an adjunct assistant clinical professor in 2010. He earned his dental degree from the University of Puerto Rico in 1975 and then joined the U.S. Air Force. During his military career he went on to earn his certificate in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from the Wilford Hall Medical Center in 1980 and his master’s in Pharmacology from the University of Texas in Houston in 1981 He earned his medical degree from the University of Health Science in Antigua in 2004.
Currently Granda serves as chair of the OMFS section at the Hialeah Dental Center, develops and teaches many lectures and supervises OMFS patient care.
Reuben Hertz, D.D.S., F.A.G.D., has served as a courtesy clinical assistant professor at the college’s Hialeah Dental Center since 1999 and has been promoted to courtesy clinical associate professor. Hertz graduated in 1965 with his dental degree from the New York University Dental School and went on to complete a general dentistry residency program while serving in the U.S. Army. In 1970 he went into private practice in Miami and currently develops and presents didactic programs in clinical dentistry, risk management, practice management and career opportunities for the Hialeah program.
He hold seven patents, is a Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry and is active in continuing dental education courses as well. He is considered an expert in risk management and provides services to several state and local organizations in that area.
Frederick Knoll, D.M.D., has served in private dental practice in Miami for 35 years, having graduated with his dental degree from Case Western in 1971. He has been teaching at the Hialeah Dental Center since 2007 where he coordinates the fixed dental prosthodontics curriculum for the Hialeah AEGD residents including didactic lectures and seminars and preclinical laboratory exercises, as well as some clinical teaching. He was promoted from courtesy clinical associate professor to courtesy clinical professor. He has been an active member of organized dentistry and is a member of the American College of Dentists.
Cesar Sabates, D.D.S., was promoted from adjunct clinical associate professor to adjunct clinical professor. He has been working with the Hialeah Dental Center since 1999 and has served for many years on the Hialeah Advisory Board. He currently oversees the implant curriculum in addition to providing clinical supervision, and didactic and seminar instruction.
Sabates earned his dental degree from The University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1987 and completed an AEGD residency there the following year. He then went into private practice in Miami and has been extremely involved in organized dentistry in the state and nation. Just recently he ended a one-year term as the first Cuban-American president of the Florida Dental Association.
Barry Shipman, D.M.D., was promoted to adjunct clinical professor from adjunct clinical associate professor. Shipman earned his dental degree from Tufts University in 1968, and went on to complete an internship in General Dentistry and a graduate Prosthodontics Residency at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and then completed a residency in Maxillocacial Prosthodontics at Rowell Park Memorial Hospital in Buffalo, N.Y., in 1973.
Shipman began his career in the academic world when he joined the faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond in 1973; he left as a full professor in 1988 and then moved into private practice, first in Richmond and then in Miami. After moving to Miami he served on faculty at the University of Miami School of Medicine and also part-time at Nova University.
Susan Socas, D.M.D., was promoted from adjunct clinical associate professor to Adjunct Clinical Professor. She earned her dental degree from the University of Florida in 1987 and went on to complete a General Practice Residency at the Dade County Research Clinic in 1988. She then began working in private practice but also worked at the Dade County Clinic where she taught residents and provided indigent care. Socas began working with the college’s Hialeah Dental Center in 1996 where she lectures, is a course director, works in the clinic and oversees coordination of courtesy and adjunct faculty.