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Luana J. Choi is a third year dental student at the Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health. She serves as President of the Special Care Dentistry Association ASDOH Student Chapter, supporting Day for Special Smiles and ‘Spread The Word to End The R Word Campaign.’ She also conducts research as the ATSU Clinical Research Intern on Measuring the Effects of Didactic and Clinical Environments on Behavioral Intent Among Dental Students in Special Care Dentistry. During after school hours, she can be found tutoring dental students in simulation clinic. Before moving to Arizona, she lived in Los Angeles where she worked at an Adult Day Health Care Center, while volunteering at a local church leading worship for children with special needs. In 2014, she graduated from Mississippi College where she obtained a M.S. in Biology, while conducting research on NIH3T3-L1 preadipocyte cells. In 2011, she received her B.S. in Biology and B.A. in Psychology at UC San Diego, where she served as the Clinic Director of the UC San Diego Student-Run Free Dental Clinics, directing operations of four clinic sites providing free dental services to the underprivileged in San Diego County. Her most memorable moments consists of traveling with the U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Mercy for one month to support humanitarian assistance upon natural disasters in Timor Leste, driving across the border to help children with maxillofacial deformities with the Thousand Smiles Foundation in Enseñada, Mexico, and directing Vacation Bible School with the Haiti Endowment Fund in Hinche, Haiti! Upon graduation, Luana will join her husband, David, and continue their efforts to reduce oral health disparities and improve access to care in underserved communities around the world. |
