Suman N. Challa, B.D.S., M.S.

• Professional Background

  Education

  • 2007 - Clinical Fellowship - Dental Public Health - UTHSCSA-Dental School
  • 2006 - Residency - Dental Public Health - UTHSCSA-Dental School
  • 2005 - MS - Health Policy and Management - Texas A&M University
  • 2000 - BDS - Dentistry - Manipal Academy of Higher Education

  Appointments

  • 12/2023 - Interim Chair, Department of Developmental Dentistry - UTHSCSA, Comprehensive Dentistry, San Antonio
  • 12/2019 - Associate Dean and Advanced Education Programs & Strategic Initiatives - UTHSCSA, Comprehensive Dentistry, San Antonio
  • 8/2019 - Assistant Dean and Advanced Education Programs & Strategic Initiatives - UTHSCSA, Comprehensive Dentistry, San Antonio
  • 10/2018 - Division Director of Dental Public Health and Division Director of Dental Public Health - Comprehensive Dentistry, Comprehensive Dentistry, San Antonio
  • 2/2018 - Residency Director and Program Director-Dental Public Health Residency - UTHSCSA, Comprehensive Dentistry, San Antonio
  • 9/2016 - Associate Professor - UTHSCSA -Dental School, Comprehensive Dentistry, San Antonio

• Instruction & Training

  • 9/2014 - Present, Post-Doctoral Student Supervision, UTHSCSA-Dental School
  • 8/2014 - Present, Head Start Varnish Rotation
  • 9/2012 - Present, Preventive Dentistry Clinic, The University of Texas Health Science Center
  • 8/2011 - Present, Preclin Fixed Prosthodont, The University of Texas Health Science Center
  • 7/2011 - Present, Preclinic Dental Anatomy, The University of Texas Health Science Center
  • 4/2011 - Present, UTHSCSA
  • 8/2010 - Present, Head Start Prevention Rotation
  • 9/2008 - Present, Dental Photography, The University of Texas Health Science Center
  • 9/2008 - Present, Dental Public Health Residency Lecture Series
  • 5/2005 - Present, Preventive Dentistry II, The University of Texas Health Science Center

• Research & Grants

  Grants

  Federal

  Funding Agency Center for Medicare Services Title Comprehensive Oral Health Care and Facility Education Status Active Period 8/2019 - 7/2022 Role Principal Investigator Grant Detail This $5.7 million grant from the Center for Medicare Services is to provide comprehensive oral healthcare services to nursing home residents in and around the San Antonio area. Oral health is integral to overall health and access to dental services is essential to promoting and maintaining that. Using state-of-the-art mobile dental offices, dental care will be provided in local nursing home facilities to their residents. In addition, the project will involve presenting health promotion education to the facility?s residents and their caregivers by our dental students, residents, staff, and faculty. Funding Agency HRSA Title Dental Faculty Development and Loan Repayment Program Status Active Period 7/2017 - 6/2021 Role Principal Investigator Grant Detail This project is a multidisciplinary program with emphasis on training and providing service in community-based primary care settings in order to address nationwide faculty shortages and under-enrollments of URM faculty and by providing loan repayment funds as an incentive to attract, develop, and retain early career dental faculty. Funding Agency Health Resources and Services Administration Title Post Doctoral Training in General, Pediatric, and Public Health Dentistry and Dental Hygiene Status Active Period 7/2015 - 6/2020 Role Contributor Grant Detail The grant will educate culturally competent dental public health specialists that can address the oral health needs of children and adults and reduce oral health disparities through services to the population that bears a disproportionate share of disease and disability. The award provides educational and service-learning that promote dental public health knowledge and skill to both DPH and AEGD residents with the goal of increasing community preventive services focused on the uninsured and underinsured. The grant proposes to cultivate professionals with advanced education in areas of dental public health science and leadership to advocate for underserved, vulnerable, and minority populations through the creation of the Institute for Dental Public Health.

  Private

  Funding Agency Solstice Neurosciences Title Solstice Neurosciences, LLC, A Phase 3 Multicenter, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Single-Treatment Efficacy and Safety Study of MYOBLOC? (Part A) Followed by Open-Label, Multiple-Treatments with MYOBLOC? (Part B) in the Treatment of Troublesome Sialo Status Active Period 6/2013 - Present Role Co-Investigator Grant Detail To determine the efficacy of MYOBLOC versus placebo in the treatment of troublesome sialorrhea in adult subjects via the assessment of unstimulated salivary flow rate and clinical global impression of sialorrhea severity and improvement at Week 4 post-injection (Part A).
  To compare the safety and tolerability of MYOBLOC versus placebo over a 13-week post-injection period (Part A).To assess the onset and duration of therapeutic response of MYOBLOC using efficacy assessments performed at Weeks 1, 2, 4, 8, and 13 after the first treatment (Part A).
  To assess the duration of therapeutic response of MYOBLOC (administered intraglandularly as a single total dose of 3,500 Units) using efficacy assessments performed at intervals after treatments every 13 weeks over a maximum possible duration of 65 weeks (Part B).
  To determine the long-term safety and tolerability of MYOBLOC treatments every 13 weeks over a maximum possible duration of 65 weeks (Part B).

• Publications

  Abstract

  Sohini Dhar, Challa SN. Assessing Oral Cancer Knowledge and Practices among Dentists in Texas; 2015 Apr. (National Oral Health Conference, Kansas City, KS). David Camann, Chris Gourley, Alice Yau, Vidya Farook, Ravi Duggirala, Suman Challa. Organochlorine Chemicals in Deciduous Teeth; 2015 Mar. (International Society for Exposure Science).