Rear Admiral Dushanka Kleinman (retired)
Chief Dental Officer, USPHS
(July 2001 to June 2005)

As the Deputy Director of NIDCR, she managed, with the Director, the Institute’s wide scope of extramural and intramural biomedical and behavioral research and related policy, programmatic and advisory committee activities. In addition, Dr. Kleinman represented the NIDCR programs at all levels of government, and ensured effective liaison with national and international research and public health communities.

RADM Kleinman received her commission in 1978 and was assigned to the Division of Dentistry, Health Resources Administration, and worked on preventive dentistry, epidemiology, and geriatric dental education curriculum development grants. In 1980 she transferred to the National Institutes of Health, where she led research program evaluations and research planning activities in the Office of the Director, National Institute of Dental Research. In 1988 she joined the Institute’s intramural Division of Epidemiology and Oral Disease Prevention.

RADM Kleinman graduated from the University of Illinois College of Dentistry and then completed a hospital-based residency at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics. She went on to teach and practice dentistry at the Boston University, Henry Goldman School of Dental Medicine, while obtaining her Masters of Science in Dental Public Health. RADM Kleinman also directed a community-based prevention program designed to train dental and dental hygiene students at the University of Maryland Dental School.

Through her work at NIDCR, Dr. Kleinman has contributed to the advancement and management of oral health sciences, and demonstrated leadership in extending research findings into practice. RADM Kleinman has been recognized with numerous awards, including two Surgeon General’s Exemplary Service Medals, the PHS Distinguished Service and Meritorious Service Medals, two PHS Outstanding Service Medals, as well as PHS Commendation and Citation Awards. She is also the recipient of the Jack D. Robertson Award. She is a Diplomat and Past-President of the American Board of Dental Public Health, and has been President of the American Association of Women Dentists and the American Association of Public Health Dentistry.

RADM Kleinman has served as a member of the DePAC, and on numerous PHS committees. Perhaps RADM Kleinman’s major contributions to the PHS, and to the nation, has been her role in overseeing and managing the development of the first Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health, and her prominent role as Chief Dental Officer during the recent PHS Transformation.

Dushanka Kleinman
Assistant Surgeon General