Alexandria, VA, USA – Members of the International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (IADR) have elected Raul I. Garcia, Boston University, USA, to serve as Vice-president. His term will commence at the conclusion of the 103rd General Session of the IADR, which will be held in conjunction with the 2025 IADR Pan European Regional Congress from June 25-28, 2025 in Barcelona, Spain.
Garcia is Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Health Services Research at the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine at Boston University. He received his DMD and MMedSc from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.
Garcia’s research background is in clinical and translational sciences, and in applying epidemiologic and health services research approaches to understanding oral health outcomes. Over the past 20 years his work has focused on understanding the causes and consequences of oral health inequalities, and on testing interventions to reduce inequalities in health outcomes. He has served as the Director of the Center for Research to Evaluate and Eliminate Dental Disparities, established at Boston University in 2001 with support from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. The Center’s aims are to identify the determinants of oral health inequalities and to design and implement community-based interventions, with a focus on children and their caregivers. This work involved building and nurturing a highly diverse team of investigators, from multiple disciplines and professional backgrounds, and across different institutions. Since 1991, Garcia has also served as the Director of the Veterans Affairs (VA) Dental Longitudinal Study, based at the VA Boston Healthcare System. This long-term study of aging and oral health has yielded many important insights on the associations between oral and systemic health.
Garcia has been extensively involved in both IADR and AADOCR, serving as President of the AADOCR Boston Section, Chair of the AADOCR Honorary Membership Committee, elected member of the IADR/AADOCR Joint Publications Committee, and several other positions. He was the Forty-sixth President of AADOCR in 2017-18. He is passionate about expanding opportunities for students to engage in research, and one of his goals as IADR Vice-president is to enhance the role of the IADR in mentoring and nurturing a new generation of dental scientists globally.
About IADR
The International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research is a nonprofit organization with a mission to drive dental, oral, and craniofacial research for health and well-being worldwide. IADR represents the individual scientists, clinician-scientists, dental professionals, and students based in academic, government, non-profit, and private-sector institutions who share our mission. Learn more at www.iadr.org.