Biography

Dr. Dounis is a Professor of Clinical Sciences and Director of Interdisciplinary Center for Aging Research and Education at the University of Nevada Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine. She received a DDS and a MS degree in Prosthodontics from Marquette University School of Dentistry, with additional fellowship training in Maxillofacial Prosthodontics/Implants Dentistry at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center/Cornell University.  She was selected by UCLA Multi-Campus Program in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology to participate in the Bureau of Health Professions Mid-Career Fellowship in Geriatric Medicine and Dentistry.  She has served as a Coordinator of Oral Health Promotion at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Michigan and has more than 20 years of private practice experience. She has received numerous honors and awards including Alvin Bently Foundation Award, American Cancer Society Award Clinical Oncology Award, and American Dental Education Association 2007 ADEA/Pfizer Enid Neidle Scholar Award.  Her other accomplishments include peer reviewed private/federal funding awards to support interprofessional Prosthodontics and Geriatric Dentistry/Medicine clinical education. She has authored 50+ publications to advance oral-systemic disease prevention and access to oral health.  As a clinician, academician, and researcher she is involved in the continual analysis of outcomes and processes of care to improve oral health care delivery.

Other research interests include access and barriers to oral care for the vulnerable, special needs and geriatric patients.