Dean Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch has announced that Dr. Priya Thomas will serve as interim chair of the new Department of Comprehensive Care and Allied Health.
This new department results from a reorganization of the divisions of Biomedical Sciences, Comprehensive Care, Cariology, Operative Dentistry, and Allied Health.
The two reorganized departments, the largest in the dental school, will be:
- Biomedical and Applied Sciences, including Cariology, continued to be chaired by Dr. Jeffrey Platt.
- Comprehensive Care and Allied Health, including predoctoral and graduate Operative Dentistry. Dr. Priya Thomas will serve as interim chair of this department while a national search is launched for a permanent chair.
Dr. Thomas has served as vice chair and clinical education director of Comprehensive Care since 2019. She joined IUSD in 2007 and became a Comprehensive Care clinic director in 2015. Among her new duties, Dr. Thomas will provide programmatic oversight of predoctoral Comprehensive Care, the allied dental programs in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, and pre- and post-doctoral operative dentistry. She will nurture and sustain a culture that promotes continuous professional development and lifelong learning for faculty and staff.
“Dr. Thomas has been a compassionate, experienced, and knowledgeable leader in Comprehensive Care,” said Dean Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch. “She puts people first, and is an excellent mentor and role model for students and clinical faculty. I look forward to working with her in this new role.”