Three Faculty Members Appointed to Oversee Impactful Initiatives

UCLA School of Dentistry Dean Paul Krebsbach has announced the appointment of three health sciences assistant clinical professors to director-level positions. Drs. Shahed Al Khalifah and Denny Chao will serve as co-directors of Innovative Digital Dentistry Systems (iDDS), while Dr. Kelly Vitzthum will direct the Community-Based Clinical Education (CBCE) program.

“Drs. Al Khalifah, Chao, and Vitzthum are some of the most energetic early-career dental educators not only in the School of Dentistry, but in our field,” Dr. Krebsbach said. “iDDS and CBCE are two critical initiatives in the holistic training of our predoctoral students, and with these new leaders, both are well-positioned for future growth and fresh perspectives.”

iDDS was established in September 2018 to usher in a digital transformation in how dentistry is taught and practiced. By acquiring and implementing best-in-class digital architecture across the School, students, faculty, and staff have access to an array of health information across all disciplines. In addition, new technologies are transforming curricular delivery and optimizing effectiveness and efficiency.

Dr. Al Khalifah chairs pre-clinical indirect restoration courses as well as clinical restorative dentistry courses for second-and third-year D.D.S. students. She has worked on increasing students’ pre-clinical exposure to digital dentistry by updating and modernizing the indirect restorations course curriculum and was part of the team that started the iDDS clinic for predoctoral students to expand the use of digital dentistry in everyday practice in our general clinics.

Dr. Al Khalifah earned her dental degree from Saudi Arabia’s King Saud University and an M.S. in Oral Biology from the UCLA School of Dentistry. Her thesis focused on studying the behavior of different computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) materials with respect to different restorative tooth preparation designs.

Serving in the Division of Advanced Prosthodontics, Dr. Chao’s research and interests include digital dentistry technology, digital workflow in clinical dentistry, material properties of CAD/CAM materials, and innovations in maxillofacial prosthetics. He has been invited to speak at the American Academy of Maxillofacial Prosthetics (AAMP) and is a recipient of AAMP’s Foundation Award.

Dr. Chao is a D.M.D. graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, after which he completed a one-year Advanced Education in General Dentistry at UCLA. He continued at the School of Dentistry and completed trainings in Prosthodontics, followed by Maxillofacial Prosthetics. In addition to his aforementioned research, Dr. Chao is currently involved in predoctoral and postdoctoral teaching.

CBCE was implemented as a pilot program in March 2018 for select students to complete two-week rotations serving vulnerable populations. Currently, all fourth-year dental students engage in at least six weeks of rotations under multiple practice models; CBCE has also expanded to include endodontic residents. More than 22,000 patients in underserved communities have received over 50,000 dental procedures at 17 clinic sites across multiple states.

Dr. Vitzthum teaches residents and predoctoral students in both the Section of Public and Population Health and the Section of Special Patient Care and Maxillofacial Prosthetics. In overseeing CBCE, her responsibilities include planning, budgeting, organization, and administrative policy development and implementation.

Dr. Vitzthum earned her D.D.S. from the UCLA School of Dentistry and remained in Westwood to complete a one-year General Practice Residency in Hospital Dentistry and Special Patient Care. She also holds a Master of Public Health from Harvard.

Dr. Bill Piskorowski, who conceived and developed CBCE at UCLA, retired from UCLA on June 30. He served as Health Sciences Clinical Professor and Associate Dean of CBCE. Dr. Piskorowski will assist Dr. Vitzthum during the transition and continue to develop innovative community partnerships in Los Angeles and throughout the country.