• Renee Mehra

NEW YORK (TIP): Dr. Kavitha P. Das is one of the winners of the national DentaQuest award for 2022. She was selected from a national pool of outstanding candidates to be awarded this prestigious award. She has worked as a health disruptor in the health system for 15 years and focused on interdisciplinary research which can lead to equitable access to care and focused on oral-systemic health connections.

For this award, DentaQuest selected forward-thinking agents of change, and they created the national Health Equity Hero program eight years ago to celebrate individuals and organizations responsible for extraordinary work that champions equitable access to health care (medical, oral health, behavioral health) and optimal overall health outcomes. Health heroes taking action to transform health systems in their communities in an effort to remedy long-standing disparities.
Dr. Das is a dentist who is an interdisciplinary health researcher, academic, and healthcare innovator. She has been working in the space of increasing access to care with diverse communities to improve the health and well-being of residents of diverse urban communities which have a predisposition to a number of chronic diseases that have lifetime consequences. She has worked at Columbia University, NYU, Yale University, and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai as an academic and in research. She leads a health equity-focused community-based organization to implement programs to have equitable access to care. Her goal is to change the inevitability of chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, oral diseases, and oral cancer) for children and families with a focus on prevention. Das leads unique research projects, public health policy, works with key stakeholders such as academics, school and community leaders, and clergy groups to highlight the opportunity for change, align on what can be done, and create an action plan that builds trust and engagement within the community.

DentaQuest manages dental and vision benefits for 30 million Americans and provides care directly through a national network of clinics. Their mission is to improve oral health for all Americans, to make it more affordable and easier to have equitable access to care with an emphasis on prevention. They use a multi-pronged approach to revolutionize oral health in ways that make the community healthier. They understand how to align incentives to drive better outcomes and lower costs. They have provided more than $230 million in funding for research and grant programs to advance oral health in communities across the country.