Dr. Brenda Heaton

Biography

Brenda Heaton is an Associate Professor jointly appointed in the Department of Health Policy and Health Services Research at the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine and the Department of Epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the social production of oral health with the overall goal of addressing the complex mechanisms responsible for the emergence of oral health disparities. She is the principal investigator on four active research grants from the National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research, exploring network-based interventions to mitigate social disparities in oral health among young children. Additionally, Heaton conducts extensive research in periodontal disease, including the validity of clinical self-report measures and the population-level research on potential causal associations between periodontal disease and chronic disease outcomes such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. She has experience working with disadvantaged minority populations, particularly public housing residents, and has contributed to initiatives addressing Early Childhood Caries among American Indian and Alaska Native populations. Heaton collaborates with the Black Women's Health Study to investigate predictors of poor oral health in the cohort. She serves as a faculty member in the Dental Public Health postgraduate residency program and is actively involved in the International Association for Dental Research.

Research Interests