August 7, 2003
Chair named for Dental Public Health Sciences
Dr. Douglas Ramsay has been appointed chair of the Department of Dental Public Health Sciences in the School of Dentistry, effective July 1. He replaces Dr. Timothy DeRouen, who is now the executive associate dean for the School of Dentistry. Ramsay, a professor of dental public health sciences, orthodontics and pediatric dentistry, has adjunct appointments in the departments of Oral Biology and Psychology.
“I am delighted to have the opportunity to chair the Department of Dental Public Health Sciences,” Ramsay said. “DPHS is a vibrant and exciting department that brings together the considerable strengths of an outstanding group of scholars from a variety of disciplines. The department has faculty with training in the fields of psychology, epidemiology, biostatistics, dental hygiene, law, public health and clinical dentistry. The department has an active research program that complements its educational and service missions. I look forward to facilitating the continued contributions that this faculty make toward improving health.”
Since 1991, Ramsay’s research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health. In addition to numerous research grants, he was the recipient of a Research Career Development Award from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Ramsay’s interests include patient adherence to therapeutic regimens, as well as research on regulatory behavior and how chronic drug use can lead to the development of drug tolerance. Ongoing research, done in collaboration with a colleague from the University of Cincinnati Medical School and with UW colleague Dr. Karl Kaiyala, seeks to understand the role of learning in the development of drug tolerance.
Ramsay received a B.A. in psychology from Franklin & Marshall College in 1979 and a D.M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1983. He came to the UW in 1983 as a senior fellow and in 1985 entered the UW’s NIH-funded Dentist-Scientist Training Program, which supported his doctoral studies in psychology and specialty training in orthodontics. He received his Ph.D. in psychology in 1988 and joined the faculty in 1990.
