Dr. Richard Niederman, a periodontist and an expert in evidence-based medicine and medical informatics, has been named chairman of the Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion and a tenured professor of epidemiology and health promotion at NYUCD. He succeeds Dr. Ralph V. Katz, who joined the NYU College of Dentistry in 2000 as the inaugural chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion. Dr. Katz will continue to serve as a professor of epidemiology and health promotion.
Since 2003, Dr. Niederman has served as director of the Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry and as a senior member of the staff at The Forsyth Institute. Previous positions include head of the Office of Evidence-Based Dentistry at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, associate professor of health policy and health services research at the Boston University Goldman School of Dental Medicine, and head of the Department of Cell Biology at The Forsyth Institute.
Dr. Niederman received a dental degree from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, where he also completed specialty training in periodontics. He holds an MA degree in zoology from the University of California, Davis, a certificate in evidence-based medicine from Oxford University, and a certificate in medical informatics from the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. He is a consultant to the Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Dental Association and the founding associate editor of the Journal of Evidence-Based Dentistry. His research has been continuously funded by the NIH, industry, and private philanthropic foundations.
Most recently, Dr. Niederman received a grant of $6.6M from the NIH/NIMHD (National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities) to improve oral health and reduce costs of rural, school-based caries prevention programs.
Dr. Niederman's scholarship and teaching background, coupled with his expertise in evidence-based practice and medical informatics, make him uniquely qualified to develop synergies among investigators and educators at NYUCD, the College of Nursing, and NYU's newly-created Global Institute of Public Health.
