A. Isabel Garcia is an American dentist and academic administrator serving as dean of the

University of Florida College of Dentistry The University of Florida College of Dentistry is the dental school of the University of Florida. The college is located in the Dental Sciences Building on the southeastern edge of the university's Gainesville, Florida main campus. The college is ...

since 2015. She was deputy director of the

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) is a branch of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The institute aims to improve the oral, dental, and craniofacial health through research and the distribution of important he ...

(NIDCR) from 2007 to 2014. Garcia was the acting NIDCR director from 2010 to 2011. She was a

Rear Admiral Lower Half A rear admiral in the uniformed services of the United States is either of two different ranks of commissioned officers: one-star flag officers and two-star flag officers. By contrast, in most other countries, the term "rear admiral" refers only t ...

in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

Education

Garcia completed a bachelor's degree in chemistry at the

University of Mary Washington The University of Mary Washington (UMW) is a public liberal arts university in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the Fredericksburg Teachers College, the institution was named Mary Washington College in 1938 after Mary Ball Washingt ...

in 1976. She earned a doctor of dental science degree from the

Medical College of Virginia The VCU Medical Center is Virginia Commonwealth University's medical campus located in downtown Richmond, Virginia, in the Court End neighborhood. VCU Medical Center used to be known as the Medical College of Virginia (MCV), which merged with the ...

in 1980. She earned a master's degree in public health from the

University of Michigan School of Public Health The University of Michigan School of Public Health is one of the professional graduate schools of the University of Michigan. Located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, UM SPH is one of the oldest schools of public health in the country and is also consid ...

in 1988. She completed a residency in dental public health at Michigan and a fellowship in primary care policy in the

United States Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant S ...

Career

During the early 1980s, Garcia was in private practice in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. She held local and state health management positions, including county health director for the Virginia division of dental health and director of dental research and evaluation in the

Ohio Department of Health The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) is the administrative department of the government of Ohio, Ohio state government responsible for coordinating activities for child and family health services, children with medical handicaps, early intervention ...

. Garcia was a health scientist administrator at the

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ; pronounced "ark" by initiates and often "A-H-R-Q" by the public) is one of twelve agencies within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The agency is headquartered i ...

where she managed research on health services and primary care. Garcia joined the

(NIDCR) in 1995 as a special assistant for science transfer. She directed activities to promote science-based practice, developed science transfer activities for clinicians, and led the development of a curriculum supplement on oral health science for use by elementary school teachers. From 2004 to 2007, Garcia was director of the NIDCR office of science policy and analysis. A captain in the

United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC), also referred to as the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service, is the federal uniformed service of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) and one of the ...

, she became the director of the dental public health residency program at NIDCR in 2005. Garcia is a diplomate of the American Board of Dental Public Health. In February 2007, she succeeded Dushanka Kleinman as the NIDCR deputy director. In 2010, Garcia succeeded Lawrence A. Tabak as acting NIDCR director. She was succeeded by

Martha Somerman Martha J. Somerman (*March 13, 1947 in Brooklyn, NY, USA) is an internationally known researcher and educator in Medicine, focusing on defining the key regulators controlling development, maintenance, and regeneration of dental, oral, and cranio ...

in 2011. She is a fellow of the

American College of Dentists American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

. Garcia retired from the Public Health Service as a

rear admiral lower half A rear admiral in the uniformed services of the United States is either of two different ranks of commissioned officers: one-star flag officers and two-star flag officers. By contrast, in most other countries, the term "rear admiral" refers only t ...

in 2014. On February 16, 2015, Garcia became dean of the

. She succeeded interim dean Boyd Robinson who had replaced dean Teresa A. Dolan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Isabel Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers University of Mary Washington alumni Medical College of Virginia alumni University of Michigan School of Public Health alumni National Institutes of Health people University of Florida faculty American women academics American dentistry academics 21st-century American women scientists Hispanic and Latino American scientists Women deans (academic) American university and college faculty deans Women dentists Hispanic and Latino American women scientists

Education

Career

See also

References