Alumni Share Professional Accomplishments

Alumni News

Richard J. Chapman, D.D.S. Class of 1978, and Varun P. Joseph, D.D.S. Class of 2017

Richard J. Chapman, D.D.S. Class of 1978, and Varun P. Joseph, D.D.S. Class of 2017, graduated 39 years apart and both were president of their class. When Dr. Chapman decided to retire, he wanted to find someone to entrust his practice and the patients that he had cared for. He found a perfect match in Dr. Joseph.

While Dr. Chapman is enjoying retirement from his practice, which he founded in 1981, Dr. Joseph is carrying on the legacy of good, conservative, ethical dentistry that patients experience at Plano Family Dental.

Dr. Joseph serves as president-elect of the Dallas Academy of General Dentistry and serves on the Board of Directors of the North Texas Dental Society.


Todd R. Ehrlich, D.D.S. Class of 1998, FAGD, has had his training center, The Digital Enamel Education Center, in Austin designated as an official training center for DentsplySirona. Dr. Ehrlich is a consultant and lecturer for the highest technology in dentistry. His training courses are on CAD/CAM digital dentistry, and DentsplySirona is the leader in the market for it. There are only a few training centers in the United States, and his Austin center is the only one in Texas. The training center is next door to his cosmetic and family dental practice, Smile Designs.


Jeffery L. Hicks, D.D.S. Class of 1979Jeffery L. Hicks, D.D.S. Class of 1979, professor of comprehensive dentistry, has been elected as chair of the Commission on Dental Accreditation for 2020 – 2021. The Commission on Dental Accreditation serves the public and profession by developing and implementing accreditation standards that promote and monitor the continuous quality and improvement of dental education programs. In addition, he will continue to chair the Postdoctoral General Dentistry Review Committee. The duties of this Committee include the review of accreditation reports and recommendation for accreditation actions for postdoctoral programs in Advanced General Dentistry, Dental Anesthesiology, Facial Pain, Oral Medicine, and General Practice Residency.

He also serves as a member of the Board of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry, which is a non-profit, membership organization of interdisciplinary health professionals, including primary care and specialist physicians, dentists, optometrists, nurses and other clinicians, committed to improving the quality of health care for people with intellectual & developmental disabilities.

Dr. Hicks is currently a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration’s Advisory Committee on Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry.

Dr. Hicks has been awarded fellowships in the American College of Dentists, the National Academies of Practice, the American Dental Education Association’s Leadership Institute and the American Association of Hospital Dentists. He is board certified in Hospital Dentistry by the Special Care Dentistry Association.


Scott E. Howell, D.M.D., M.P.H., completed his dental public health residency at the School of Dentistry in 2019. He passed the American Board of Dental Public Health board exam and as a result of passing the exam became a board-certified specialist in dental public health, a Diplomate in the American Board of Dental Public Health. He is one of three DPH specialists in Arizona.

He was recently awarded the American Dental Association’s 10 Under 10 Award for his work in teledentistry at the Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health at A.T. Still University (ATSU) in Mesa, Arizona. He helped start the teledentistry program in 2015.

Dr. Howell has recently been promoted to the position of director of Public Health Dentistry & Teledentistry at ATSU.


Kent Howze, D.D.S. Class of 1986, is proud that his son, Garrett Howze, D.D.S. Class of 2020, graduated from the same extraordinary dental school. The elder Howze said he knows firsthand his son has been taught and trained by the best. “It will be an honor to have him continue to treat the individuals who have become more like family than patients. I can confidently retire knowing the patients and staff are in good hands,” he said.


Andrew S. Lazaris and Wilson W. Lo, both D.D.S. Class of 1996, and Shane A. Ricci, D.D.S. Class of 2006, have been named Top Doctors and Super Dentists and were featured on the cover and in an article in Living Magazine in July 2020.

They were also all three voted Best Dentist by D! Magazine in its October 2020 issue.

The three graduates are in private practice in Plano, Texas, at Texas Dental, which Dr. Lazaris founded in 1999.


Kelly C. Lemke, D.D.S. Class of 1995, M.S.Kelly C. Lemke, D.D.S. Class of 1995, M.S., was appointed to the position of associate editor of the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) in spring 2020.

Dr. Lemke is an assistant professor in the Department of Developmental Dentistry at UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry. She leads the Introduction to Patient Care curriculum track and is course director for evidence-based practice classes in both the School of Dentistry and School of Health Professions.

After graduating from the School of Dentistry in 1995, she completed a General Practice Residency at Audie L. Murphy VA Hospital in 1996 and has practiced dentistry in both private practice and public health settings. She earned an M.S. in Clinical Investigations from the UT Health Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2017.


Major Jeffrey M. Marrs, D.D.S. Class of 2017Major Jeffrey M. Marrs, D.D.S. Class of 2017, is an active duty Army dentist currently serving in the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne). He earned his dental degree with distinction in research and teaching honors, and was inducted into the national dental honor society, the Mu Nu Chapter of Omicron Kappa Upsilon. In 2018, he graduated from a 12-month Advanced Education in General Dentistry program at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Maj. Marrs worked with the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) to design, resource and disseminate 3-D printed dental face shields to enhance infection control measures of dental treatment procedures for the Joint Base Lewis-McChord dentists.

He treated sick call and emergency cases and performed exams to ensure personnel were ready to deploy worldwide.


J. Scott Miller, D.D.S. Class of 1983, M.B.A., has been selected for promotion to colonel, U.S. Army Reserve, Dental Corps. He serves as a senior staff officer assigned to the U.S. Army Medical Command, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He has served in the Army Reserve since 2009 and has completed multiple activations including service in Afghanistan in 2013 with Operation Enduring Freedom.


Share Your News!Please email the Office of Alumni Engagement at alumni@uthscsa.edu or call 210-567-3051 with professional news.

 


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In the 2020 issue of Salute

Salute is the official magazine for the alumni and friends of the School of Dentistry at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Read and share inspiring stories highlighting our dental alumni, faculty and students who are revolutionizing education, research, patient care and critical services in the communities they serve.

View the 2020 issue

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