Two School of Dentistry faculty members will be honored at the annual Latinx Faculty Recognition Event on May 2 by the University of Washington’s Latino Center for Health.
Dr. Ana Lucia Seminario and Dr. Joana Cunha-Cruz will be recognized at the event, which celebrates scholarly achievements of Latina and Latino faculty during the current academic year at all of the University’s campuses. Recognition is based on at least one of these criteria:
- Promotion to associate or full professor.
- Acceptance or publication of an article in a high-impact journal.
- Publication of a book.
- Securing a major grant.
- Retiring during or near the end of the academic year.
UW Regent Rogelio Riojas and Dean Hilary Godwin from the School of Public Health will speak at the event.
“I am delighted that these two faculty members will be recognized for their outstanding work and accomplishments,” said Interim Dean Gary Chiodo of the School of Dentistry. “They are eminently deserving.”
Dr. Cunha-Cruz, a research associate professor in the Department of Oral Health Sciences, holds a DDS from the State University of Pernambuco, Brazil and a master’s degree and PhD in public health (epidemiology) from the State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her research interests include oral health, public health, epidemiology, evidence-based practice and practice-based research.
She is currently implementing and evaluating family-oriented interventions to promote better oral health at the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic in Washington and organizational change for dental providers in southeast Alaska and Oregon. She is also associate director for strategic partnerships for the School of Public Health’s Northwest Center for Public Health Practice, which conducts research and promotes public health workforce training.
Dr. Seminario is an associate professor of pediatric dentistry who also holds an adjunct appointment in global health in the UW School of Public Health. Trained both as a pediatric dentist and epidemiologist, she holds a DDS from Peru’s University Cayetano Heredia, a PhD in stomatology from the University of Charles, Czech Republic, and a master’s degree in public health (epidemiology) from UW School of Public Health.
She is director of the School of Dentistry’s DeRouen Center for Global Oral Health, which pursues research collaborations in Kenya, Peru, Thailand, and Seattle. Her academic interests include global oral health, research methodology, access to oral health, and oral health among immigrant populations.