Oral Hygiene as Prevention: Discovering the Links Between Oral Health, Respiratory Infection, and Sepsis

Dian L. Baker, PhD, NP, RN, is a professor at the School of Nursing, California State University, Sacramento. Dr. Baker obtained her PhD from University of Hawaii and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in health care leadership at the University of California, Davis. Her recent publications on pneumonia prevention have drawn interest from hospitals across the country and patient safety organizations. Dr. Baker was the academic partner and researcher with the Sutter Health System Team that was awarded the 2018 California Healthcare Quality Institute’s C. Duane Dauner Quality Award for excellence in quality and safety for their work on nonventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia. In 2020, Dr. Baker was part of the team awarded the Award for Publication Excellence from the Association of Professional in Infection Control and Epidemiology and American Journal of Infection Control. She is currently working to promote prevention of nonventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia in hospitals worldwide and is a consultant for the VA National HAPPEN program. She is a co-author of a Call to Action paper by the National Organization to Prevent Hospital Acquired Pneumonia (NOHAP) published in June 2021.

Karen Giuliano, PhD, RN, FAAN, MBA, is currently Co-Director of the Center for Nursing and Engineering Innovation and an Associate Professor (Joint) at the Institute for Applied Life Sciences and College of Nursing, University of Massachusetts Amherst. With a clinical background in critical care and 25+ years of global experience in the development of new medical products, Dr. Giuliano has a passion for improving healthcare through innovation. Her expertise includes human-centered design and clinical outcomes research. Dr. Giuliano actively contributes to many professional organizations and works with small, medium, and large companies on medical product development and innovation. In addition, her own interdisciplinary program of research is focused in two main areas: non-ventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia and IV infusion safety using IV Smart Pumps. Dr. Giuliano is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN), a six-sigma green belt, and holds a BSN and PhD in nursing from Boston College, nurse practitioner from the University of Massachusetts, an MBA (Global Management Concentration) from Babson College. She completed a postdoctoral research fellowship on IV infusion device safety at Yale University.

Frank Scannapieco, D.M.D., Ph.D. is a State University of New York (SUNY) Distinguished Professor of Oral Biology and has an international reputation in oral biology. His research interests have included studies of basic dental plaque (biofilm) formation mechanisms and implications for health and disease. His laboratory has studied the interaction between salivary proteins and bacteria, and how these influence oral biofilms. He is also a pioneer in studies connecting oral and systemic diseases such as pneumonia, COPD, diabetes, and cancer. A member of the University at Buffalo faculty since 1991. Dr Scannapieco served as the Chair of the Department of Oral Biology from 2004 to 2022. Over his career, he has mentored numerous junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate, dental, and college students. He was awarded several research grants over his career, edited several books and journal supplements, and has published over 170 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. A fellow of the American Association of Dental Research, Scannapieco has received several awards, including the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities, Distinguished Scientist Award in Oral Biology from the International Association for Dental Research, the William J. Gies Award for Achievement from the American Dental Education Association, and the Irwin D. Mandel Distinguished Mentoring Award, from the American Association for Dental Research. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology and doctorate in dental medicine from the University of Connecticut, a master’s degree in biology from Northeastern University, and a PhD in oral biology and certificate in periodontics from the University at Buffalo.