IN SYMPATHY
Dr. Mary Ann Lester (Perio ’94) January 28, 2022
Dr. Robert J. Berkowitz November 3, 2021
Dr. Jeffrey P. Feingold (Gen Den ‘72) October 7, 2021
Dr. Lester dedicated her time to the Periodontics Residency Program and remained on the part-time faculty throughout her career in Rochester.
Dr. Berkowitz, former chair, EIOH Pediatric Dentistry Residency Program, served in academic settings at University of Maryland, University of Pennsylvania, Case Western Reserve, Columbia University, University of Texas, Houston, and Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. before coming to Eastman Institute for Oral Health in 1992. He first served as the program director, and then became chair in 1997. He is credited for reimagining the Residency Program and charting a course to align pediatric oral health as part of overall pediatric health for the children of Rochester. His research and many publications on Early Childhood Caries and its prevention was not only pioneering, but field advancing.
While completing his residency at EIOH, he donated his time and skills treating migrant farmworkers. This work touched his heart and would be instrumental in his future as an innovator in the dental profession. He was a change agent in dental managed care across the nation and developed the concept of combining general dentistry and multiple dental specialties under one roof, co-founding the Dentaland Organization. Dentaland offices treated many patients from underserved communities who suffered greatly from dental disease but could not get proper care. He championed their needs for affordable, high quality dental care for Florida’s children and adults by founding Managed Care of North America, Inc., with the goal of managing Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) dental benefits for state agencies.
She owned a successful periodontal practice in Rochester for 26 years, where her office was one of the first in Western NY to introduce 3-Dimensional radiography for diagnosis and surgical care. She collaborated in a multi-center clinical trial for developing a new implant system and also worked to advance healing outcomes as a co-investigator using amniotic stem cells in periodontal and implant applications, and often lectured in local, national and international arenas.
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EASTMAN INSTITUTE FOR ORAL HEALTH
