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Elena Riccio Leach

Contact

210-450-3346

riccioe@uthscsa.edu

Departments & Divisions

Elena Riccio Leach, D.D.S., M.S.

Clinical Assistant Professor

Dr. Elena Riccio Leach is a full-time Clinical Assistant Professor at UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry.

She is assistant leader in the general group practices, supervising and instructing dental students during their daily comprehensive clinical activity. In addition, she is  one of the directors and developers of the Introduction to Patient Care course which is part of the innovative curriculum for earlier clinical education of pre-clinical dental students, her focus being diagnosis and treatment planning, and patient record management.She is also one of the directors of the umbrella clinical patient management course in the junior year. 

Her service commitments, among others, include being part of the LINC Clinical IPE group with the intent of researching and informing best practices in clinical interprofessional education at the university level.

Dr Riccio Leach also practices as a provider at the UT Dentistry Faculty Practice Clinic.

Dr. Riccio Leach graduated in 1998 from the School of Dentistry of the Second University of Napoli, Italy and worked in private practice as a general dentist for nine years before joining the Italian Navy as a Dental Officer. During her military service she earned her MS in Orthodontics at the University of Milano, Italy. In  2014 she moved with family to Texas and in 2016  she earned her DDS and Texas dental license through the International Dentist Education Program (IDEP) of the School of Dentistry at the UT Health San Antonio.

  • Professional Background

    Education

    • 2016 - DDS - UT Health San Antonio
    • 2011 - Residency - Orthodontics - University of Milano Dental School
    • 2002 - Internship - General Practice Residency - Department of Dental Medicine and Oral Surgery of Cardarelli Hospital
    • 2001 - Certificate - Outpatient Oral Surgery - University of Naples Federico II Dental School
    • 1998 - DDS - Dental Degree - Second University of Naples Dental School

    Training

    • 2021 - Professional Development - ADEA Emerging Leaders Program - UT Health San Antonio/ADEA
    • 2016 - Fellowship - ADEA ADCFP (Academic Dental Career Fellowship Program) - UT Health San Antonio/ ADEA

    Highlights

    2016- Member elected of the Dental Honor Society  OKU Mu Nu Chapter  (Secretary/Treasurer since 2019)

    2016- Merit award for distinction in removable prosthodontics at UTHSCSA 

    2016- Certificate of appreciation and award recognition for consistently superior performance 

    2016- Outstanding Research in Dental Education (RIDE) 

    2016- Distinction in Dental Education and Research 

    2000- Sant’Apollonia award for dentistry and disability  .

     

     

     

    Appointments

    • 7/2018 - Assistant Professor/Clinical and Clinical Assistant Instructor - UT Health San Antonio, Comprehensive Dentistry, San Antonio
    • 2016-2018 - Private Practice General Dentistry
    • 2007-2014 - Dental Officer - Italian Navy
    • 1998-2007 - Private Practice General Dentistry

  • Instruction & Training

    • 2021-present, INTD 7020- Director, UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry
    • 2022, SELC 7127-Course director, UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry
    • 2018- present, DIPC 6002- Director, UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry
    • 2018-present, INTD 7020- Clinical instructor, UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry
    • 2018-present, GEND 8077- Clinical instructor , UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry
    • 2018-present, DIPC 5001- Instructor and Proctor, UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry
    • 2018-present , IDEP 5001- Instructor and Proctor, UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry

  • Research & Grants

    Dr. Riccio Leach's  research focus is Dental Education (currently working on a national research project with the ADEA Emerging leaders Program) and Clinical Interprofessional Education (currently involved in  a reserch project with the LINC -Linking Interprofessional Networks for Collaboration Clinical IPE group). 

  • Service

    School

    • Chair of Faculty Assembly
    • Secretary of Faculty Council
    • Chair of the Consortium for Oral Health Related Informatics (COHRI) Educational Workgroup  
    • Admission Committee Member
    • Curriculum Committee DS3 and Ds4 Member
    • DSRDP Compliance and Ethics Committee Member
    • Mentor of Dental Students
    • ADEA WLO  Women leader Liaison for the UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry

    Institutional

    Member of LINC Clinical IPE group

    Service to the Profession

    • Secretary/ Treasurer  of local Mu Nu Chapter  of OKU National  Dental  Honor Society
    • Member of ADEA and of the ADEA Section of Women in Leadership
    • Member of  National, State and Local Chapters of ADA and AGD

     

    Community

    • Italian Society of San Antonio active member
    • Cherokee Township of San Antonio active member

  • Publications

      Abstracts:

      1. Willian Hendricson, Mai Luk, Jaclyn Vu, Ellis Shwarts, Alexander Ling, Elena Riccio, Earlanda Williams,Joseph Connor Kevin Gureckis, David Cappelli, Parma RR. Can Future Faculty Be Developed During Dental School? - Journal of Dental Education 2016 Feb;80(2).

      Posters:

      1. “Why faculty members are resistant to change: the predicament of modern education perceived by UTHSCSA Dental School and School of Health Professions teachers.”  Elena Riccio; Rita Parma; William Hendricson- Presented at UT System Kenneth Shine Health Science Education Conference in Austin (TX) Feb 18, 2016; ADEA conference in Denver (CO) Mar 14, 2016.;Fiesta of Education UTHSCSA San Antonio (TX) Apr 7, 2016
      2. “Does a Teaching Honors Program in a Dental School Influence Alumni to Pursue Academic Careers?” Mai Luk, Elena Riccio, Ellis Shwarts, Alexander Ling, Jaclyn Vu, Earlanda Williams, Rita Parma, Kevin Gureckis, David Cappelli, Magda De La Torre, Joseph Connor, William Hendricson- Presented at UT System Kenneth Shine Health Science Education Conference in Austin (TX) Feb 18, 2016; ADEA conference in Denver (CO) Mar 14, 2016.;Fiesta of Education UTHSCSA San Antonio (TX) Apr 7, 2016
      3. “Exploring the Clinical Interprofessional Education Environment” Joseph Zorek, Temple Ratcliffe, Christine Gaspard, Angela Kennedy, Elena Riccio Leach, Rebecca Moote, Marta Vives-  Presented at the Nexus Summit 2020 (Virtual August 6-20, 2020).
      4. "Exploring Clinical Interprofessional Education within Dentistry: Room for Growth"  Elena Riccio Leach, Joseph Zorek, Temple Ratcliffe, Christine Gaspard, Angela Kennedy, Rebecca Moote, Marta Vives- Presented at ADEA  virtual conference Mar 12 2021
      5. "The axiUm Treatment Planning Module Implementation: Educational and Clinical Outcomes."  Elena Riccio Leach, Gary Guest - Presented at ADEA  virtual conference Mar 12 2021
      6. "All Change Is Local: Pilot Results from a University-wide Peer-to-Peer Faculty and Staff Development Program"-Gretchel Gealogo Brown, Moshtagh Farokhi, Lark Ford, Keith Krolick, Temple Ratcliffe, Irene Chapa, James Cleveland, Sean E. Garcia, Chris Gaspard, Angela Kennedy, Rebecca Moote, Elena Riccio Leach, Wesley Richardson, Heidi Worabo, Marta Vives, Joseph A. Zorek- Nexus 2021- Sept 9- Oct 18 2021 Online 
      7. "Exploring Speech-Language Pathology’s Presence in Interprofessional Clinical Learning Environments"-Angela Kennedy,Temple Ratcliffe, Chistine Gaspard, Elena Riccio Leach, Rebecca Moote, Marta Vives, Joseph Zorek-  Hybrid 2021 ASHA Convention, November 15-22, 2021.

      Oral Presentations:

      1. “Implementation of the Treatment Planning Module at UT San Antonio School of Dentistry: Educational and Clinical outcome” Exan Summit 2020, Vancouver, Canada 26-28 February 2020

  • Clinical

    General Dentistry

    Faculty Practice 

    Board Certifications

    • 2016 - Texas State Board Dental Examiner License
    • 2016 - TSBDE Nitrous Oxide and Level 1 minimal sedation permit.