Dr. Didem Ozdemir Ozenen, a respected clinician, educator, researcher, and leader, has joined University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry as Associate Dean for Oral Health Education.  

In this role, Dr. Ozdemir Ozenen will provide oversight of all educational programs at the Dugoni School, working with the leadership team to support the school’s curricula, faculty, students and residents, research, the Continuing Dental Education division and more. She will also be deeply involved in faculty recruitment, development, appointment and promotion, and serve as chairperson of the Faculty Development Oversight Committee and other committees.   

"I am thrilled and honored to join the Dugoni School family," said Dr. Ozdemir Ozenen. "It is a privilege to work under the exemplary leadership of Dean Nadershahi, whose vision and dedication are instrumental in sustaining and advancing the proven excellence in oral health education at Dugoni School. This institution has a distinguished track record of being at the forefront of the field, and I am excited to contribute to our shared goal of continuing this legacy as the premier oral health education program in the world."

Dr. Ozdemir Ozenen earned her DDS degree and a PhD in pediatric dentistry from Istanbul University, where she also served as a clinical instructor. She continued her education by earning a second PhD in Medical Education from Marmara University. She served as a clinical research fellow at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Maryland. There, she made significant contributions to genetic research, discovering two novel gene mutations associated with Amelogenesis Imperfecta (AI) in pediatric dental patients.

Since 2005, Dr. Ozdemir Ozenen has served as a full-time professor at Yeditepe University in Istanbul, Turkey, which recently became the first university in Europe to be accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) in the United States. She played a key role in obtaining this prestigious accreditation and has held various leadership roles at the university, including Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Head of the Curriculum Management Committee. She was also the founder and Director of the Yeditepe University’s Non-Interventional Clinical Research Institutional Review Board.  

Dr. Ozdemir Ozenen is also a founding member of Turkey’s Association for Accreditation of Dental Education Programs, where she was elected as Vice President for a third consecutive term. Her extensive contributions include numerous national and international publications, presentations, national awards, and the solo editorship of a nationally acclaimed pediatric dentistry textbook in Turkey.

“We are excited to welcome Dr. Didem Ozdemir Ozenen to the Dugoni School family,” said Dr. Nader A. Nadershahi, Dean and Vice Provost of the Dugoni School. “I know her expertise and passion for education, patient care and research will be a valuable asset to our academic programs and will inspire our students and faculty as we strive to be recognized as a leading global oral health education program.”