CDA congratulates Dr. Shakalpi Pendurkar on her appointment as state dental director at the California Department of Public Health. Appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, she brings a wealth of experience to this role, which is critical to the oral health of Californians and the state public health infrastructure. She succeeds Dr. Jayanth Kumar, who retired earlier this year.
The dental director leads the Office of Oral Health in developing and implementing the state oral health initiatives by collaborating with various state agencies and organizational partners, such as CDA. The dental director also spearheads efforts in prevention, education, and community outreach to address oral disease and health equity.
After graduating from Emory University with a master’s in public health with a specialization in international health epidemiology, Pendurkar worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She then brought her dental and public health expertise to California where she has served as the lead supervising dentist at Gardner Health Services since 2003. Pendurkar also completed a certificate in dental education at the University of the Pacific and the Academy for Academic Leadership.
Her work on local oral health programs with the Health Plan of San Mateo and San Mateo County Public Health Department has helped to increase access to dental care, including through the development of a framework for oral health surveillance systems for monitoring and preventing oral diseases. As part of the Santa Clara County Coalition Against Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, Pendurkar advocated for the restriction of sugar-sweetened beverages in children’s meals.
Pendurkar is a public health leader with a record of supporting priorities and programs that advance community water fluoridation, school-based oral health and medical-dental integration. She is also a CDA member who has served in several CDA leadership roles, including most recently as a member of the CDA Board of Component Representatives representing the Santa Clara County Dental Society, where she also served as component president in 2022.
CDA looks forward to continuing to work with Dr. Pendurkar as she enters into this important new role.