Francisco Ramos-Gomez, D.D.S., M.S., M.P.H.

Francisco Ramos-Gomez, D.D.S., M.S., M.P.H. is a professor in the Section of Pediatric Dentistry and Chair of the Section of Pediatric Dentistry. Director of the Pediatric Dentistry Advanced Clinical Training Program (ACT) at the UCLA School of Dentistry, and Director of the UCLA Center for Children’s Oral Health. Dr. Ramos-Gomez joined the school as a faculty member in 2008.

Dr. Ramos-Gomez has been a pediatric dentist for more than 30 years with specific focus and research in the areas of early childhood caries (ECC) prevention, oral health disparities, oral disease risk assessment, and community health with an emphasis on underserved populations and population health.

Research and Interests

In addition to his work with clinically based interventions, Dr. Ramos-Gomez conceptualized and co-founded the UCSF Center to Address Disparities in Children’s Oral Health to identify the cultural, environmental, workforce, behavioral, and biologic factors associated with health disparities among ethnic/racial groups to enhance health professionals' ability to target children likely to be at risk for dental caries. Dr. Ramos-Gomez has been funded by NIH-NIDCR on ECC community-based intervention clinical trials for the last 23 consecutive years.

He has played a dynamic role on the Board of the Hispanic Dental Association, Dental Health Foundation, and American Academy of Pediatrics and has actively participated in the development of the Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health.  As a proponent of global health, Dr. Ramos-Gomez has supported the UC California-Mexico Health Initiative, established in 1999 to further the advancement of the UC bi-national health activities, and chaired the Oral Health Task Force, which fosters collaboration between UC and Mexican scientists in the areas of dental, pediatric, and oral health policy.

Early in his career, Dr. Ramos-Gomez received the Kellogg Fellowship for International Development and testified at the U.S. Congressional Legislative Hearing on Hispanics. He has received numerous accolades over the years, including the AAPD best research award. In 2011, Dr. Ramos-Gomez received the National Dental Association Foundation Colgate-Palmolive Faculty Recognition Award for Research, and was awarded the IAPD Bright Smiles Bright Futures Award in Glasgow in 2015 for most innovative intervention-designed preventive clinical trials. In addition, in 2024, he received a fourth, five-year HRSA interprofessional curriculum re-design grant for post-doctoral training in pediatric dentistry: http://www.uclachatpd.org