Weintraub Wins Distinguished Service Award
UNC School of Dentistry Dean Jane Weintraub received the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD) Distinguished Service Award on Tuesday, May 1. The award was presented to Weintraub at the National Oral Health Conference, the joint annual meetings of the ASTDD and the American Association of Public Health Dentistry, held this year in Milwaukee, Wisc.
The ASTDD Distinguished Service Award is given annually to an individual or organization for excellent and distinguished service to dental public health. Weintraub received the award as a result of her career-long commitment to improving the public’s oral health and mentorship to those in the profession. She is perhaps most recognized for her extensive public health research and community engagement while at the University of California San Francisco (USCF) School of Dentistry. During her time there, she served as the principal investigator and director for the Center to Address Disparities in Children’s Oral Health (CAN DO) which focuses on preventing early childhood caries. Her research and public health efforts have led to incorporation of preventive services such as dental sealants and fluoride varnish into clinical practice.
“ASTDD is a wonderful organization with a wonderful mission and vision whose values are shared by all of us in public health,” said Weintraub. “Everyone who attends the National Oral Health Conference is part of a family that seeks to improve the public’s oral health. It is an honor and a delight to accept this award from such a respected group of colleagues in dentistry.”
ASTDD is a national non-profit organization representing the directors and staff of state public health agency programs for oral health. Founded in 1948, it strives to promote governmental oral health presence in each state and territory to assure optimal oral health. The ASTDD Distinguished Service Award recipients are nominated by current ASTDD members and then selected by a committee overseen by the organization president.
