Gerardo Maupomé

Biography

Dr. Maupomé is an oral health researcher with primary interests in dental health services research and oral epidemiology; oral treatment needs among patients at high risk of disease or subject to health and social disparities; and analysis of how dental professionals make clinical decisions.

After receiving his dental training at the Universidad Nacional in Mexico City, Dr. Maupomé was awarded a MSc in Experimental Oral Pathology in 1986 and a PhD in Public Health in 1991 from the University of London, in the United Kingdom. He received a diploma in Dental Public Health from the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1991, and completed a residency in Dental Public Health with Baylor College of Dentistry in 2006.

From 1995 until 2000, Dr. Maupomé was a faculty member at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. From 2000 until 2005, Dr. Maupomé was a researcher with the scientific program of a large HMO in the private sector, the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Oregon. He had academic appointments with the Institute of Health Promotion Research and the Department of Oral Health Sciences from 2000 until 2005, and an honorary affiliation with the University of California at San Francisco Dental School from 2002 until 2005.

He was a Professor with Indiana University School of Dentistry from 2005 until 2017. In 2017 he transferred to the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health in Indianapolis to become Associate Dean of Research. Besides his Professor position with the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, he is currently an Investigator with the Center for Urban Health in the Schools of Science, of Liberal Arts, and of Medicine, in Indianapolis. Dr. Maupomé is a Visiting Professor with the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom; and an Affiliated Professor, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Indiana University at Bloomington. He is also an Affiliated Faculty with the Indiana University Network Science Institute, and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Periodontics and Allied Dental Programs, Indiana University School of Dentistry. During 2017 and 2018 he was Faculty Fellow with the IUPUI campus administration.

Research Interests

Dr. Maupomé has been involved in various research approaches. They span from epidemiological studies assessing the impact of public health fluoridation, to clinical trials of chlorhexidine varnishes; from community demonstrations to promote healthier lifestyle decisions, to quantitative appraisals of factors contributing to poor oral health and failure to access dental services; and from qualitative investigations into social and economic determinants of health, to economic analyses of the costs implied in health conditions and associated clinical treatment. Some of these studies have been focused on American Indians, people of Mexican and Latinx origin, those 65 years of age and older, children, and population groups with restricted access to dental services.

Current Projects

Dr. Maupomé continues his active research and public health practice agendas in various areas. For example, to expand studies in oral epidemiology and dental health services research for all types of populations groups (both in North America and in less developed countries), with special attention to the identification, characterization, evaluation, and contrasts of disease manifestations and associated risk factors. Placing the various disease outcomes in the context of the outcomes derived from treatment courses (preventive and rehabilitative) remains an important part of his research, using various investigation approaches - in isolation or in combination. Also, the use of mixed-methods to evaluate patterns of professional practices, and how decisions for dental treatment are made, will complement goals for educational research and the creation of an evidence base of innovative clinical approaches to manage oral conditions/diseases.

Dr. Maupomé is leading an NIH-funded, five-year study to characterize the evolution of egocentric social networks and the impact of such changes in oral health status, dental care use, and overall well-being among Latinos (the VidaSana study). He also co-directed a study funded by private industry into perceptions of dental erosion. In the latter investigator-initiated study, Dr. Maupomé and colleagues ascertained how dental professionals and lay public identify and compare dental conditions in terms of the clinical and cosmetic impacts. This line of research has grown into an NIH-funded study to test perceptions of dental conditions across dental professionals and patients using the real-life laboratory of the National Dental Practice Based Research Network, the largest dental office panel for practical research in the U.S. Dr. Maupome is also working with the IUPUI ECHO Center to improve clinical-practice of multiple conditions in Indiana and the Midwest. The ECHO approach (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a well established framework to improve clinical and public health practices in real life.