Professional Staff of the WHO Collaborating Center

Robert Collins, DMD, MPH, serves as head of the WHO CC. He is Chief of the Division of Community Oral Health in the Department of Preventive and Restorative Sciences and Director of the Office of International Relations. Dr. Collins was a member of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps for 24 years from 1971 to 1995, including appointment as USPHS Chief Dental Officer from 1991-1995. From 1995-2006, he served as Deputy Executive Director (Interim Executive Director 2002-2003) of the International and American Associations for Dental Research, nonprofit organizations dedicated to promoting the health of the public through oral health research and its application to clinical and public health practice.

Joan Gluch, RDH, PhD, is currently Director of Community Health in the Department of Preventive and Restorative Sciences. She has broad experience in community outreach programs in socio-economical deprived communities and has directed the oral health promotion programs at the school for many years.

Martin Greenberg, DDS, is Professor of Oral Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Oral Medicine. He is nationally and internationally known clinical scientist and lecturer in CMV and oral mucosal disease. He also directs the postgraduate program in Oral Medicine.

Marjorie Jeffcoat, DMD, dean of the School of Dental Medicine and a periodontist, is a world renowned and award winning dental researcher. She is past president of both the American Association for Dental Research and the International Association for Dental Research and currently serves on the National Institutes of Health-NIDCR Advisory Committee for Research on Women's Health. Her research includes the study of the relationship between premature birth and periodontal disease.

Andres Pinto, DMD, MPH, Assistant Professor/Clinician Educator in Oral Medicine and Director of Oral Medicine Services and Medically Complex Patient Care at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. In addition, he is an Attending Instructor at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, a University Associate at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. and a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Medicine. Dr. Pinto maintains an intramural practice in oral medicine and dental care for medically complex patients. His research interests include salivary gland disease, pediatric oral medicine, and dental public health.

James Lipton, DDS, MPhil., PhD, is Director of Faculty and Student Career Development at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine. He worked for thirty years in the U.S. Public Health Service, with assignments in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) in the National Institutes of Health, and as Senior Advisor to the USPHS Chief Dental Officer, Dr. Dushanka Kleinman, from 2004-2006. He has a strong research background in the sociomedical sciences and public health, with particular skills in research methodology, statistical analysis and evaluation.

Xiaoxian Meng, DDS, MPH, PhD, Instructor of Community Oral Health in the Department of Preventive and Restorative Sciences. Dr. Meng also holds a Faculty position as an Adjunct Scholar in the Center of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB) at Penn School of Medicine. Her areas of research include oral epidemiology, dental health services research, and dental public health.