Ms. Lisa Bress, RDH, MS, Clinical Associate Professor and Division Chief, has been a faculty member at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry since 1995. Ms. Bress has worked to develop strategic partnerships and programs aimed at expanding access to oral health care to Maryland’s underserved populations. She is the principal investigator of the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) Prenatal Postpartum Advisory Board (PPAB), a state-wide advisory group of community mothers from the B’More for Healthy Babies program and health professionals from institutions including the University of Maryland schools of medicine and dentistry. The PPAB works to help jump-start Maryland’s new expanded Medicaid dental benefits for postpartum mothers and all adults (effective April 2022 and January 2023, respectively) with the aim of increasing health equity. Now in its second year, PPAB is sponsored by CareQuest Institute for Oral Health and Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In 2018, Bress launched and continues to direct an innovative collaboration between UMSOD and the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Women’s Health Center (UMWHC), which integrates oral health into prenatal care offered to underserved mothers in Baltimore. Through it, women who come to UMWHC for prenatal care are referred to UMSOD student providers for urgent and comprehensive dental services.  

Lisa incorporates students into her programs which has resulted in integrating courses on oral health literacy into the curriculum and a clinic rotation for prenatal and postpartum patients. Ms. Bress’ aim is to transfer classroom lessons to in-person activities through which dental hygiene students serve the community while gaining experiences with the potential to impact their careers. In addition to her research interests Ms. Bress teaches junior and senior clinic and directs didactic courses focused on dental hygienist’s role in addressing oral health equity issues in the current health care climate. She has been honored with awards in teaching and most recently with the Linda Devore Alumni award.