Dr. Guthmiller named dentistry dean at UNC-Chapel Hill

Janet Guthmiller, DDS, PhD, dean of the UNMC College of Dentistry since September 2014, today was named the dean of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Adams School of Dentistry. She will also hold the Claude A. Adams Distinguished Professorship.

Dr. Guthmiller will continue at UNMC into the fall.  Her appointment at UNC-Chapel Hill begins Oct. 15.

"I am incredibly grateful to my UNMC College of Dentistry family and to our UNMC family for the wonderful work we have accomplished together over the last eight years," Dr. Guthmiller said. "The commitment of the college’s extraordinary faculty, staff, students and alumni is truly exemplary. The college has an incredible trajectory, and I look forward to watching its continued excellence – the future is bright!"

"Dr. Guthmiller’s accomplishments as the UNMC College of Dentistry dean are immeasurable, and the college will benefit for generations from her leadership," UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, said. "We wish her well in her new role at North Carolina, and we will work to find a leader who can build upon the momentum she has created here at UNMC."

Dele Davies, MD, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at UNMC, called Dr. Guthmiller "a steady, committed and transformational leader for the College of Dentistry."

"She has been a particularly strong advocate for students and their needs and at the same time brought renewal and integration of state-of-the-art technology and simulation into the college," Dr. Davies said. "As co-principal investigator of the Summer Health Professions Education Program, Dr. Guthmiller introduced many prospective dental students to the college and inspired many of them to apply, with many now either graduates or current students. She also was a consummate team player who worked closely with the other deans in ensuring UNMC was well prepared during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We are very grateful to her for her many contributions to the college and wish her the very best in her new leadership role at the University of North Carolina."

The UNMC College of Dentistry has achieved a number of accomplishments during Dr. Guthmiller’s nearly eight-year tenure. Advances include:

• More than $6 million in renovations to create a state-of-the-art learning environment that includes an interactive iWall classroom, a clinical and virtual simulation laboratory where students use the most advanced 3D, virtual reality and haptics technology to build their clinical skills, and a digital design studio where students build cutting-edge digital dentistry skills;
• A $2.6 million renovation and expansion of the college’s clinic in the Durham Outpatient Center to accommodate a new residency program and opportunities for dental and dental hygiene students to provide dental care for medically compromised patients;
• Commitment of $14.6 million from UNMC leadership for building modernization, revitalization of student spaces and research space, and infrastructure repair from LB 384 to begin in summer 2022;
• The development of two educational programs – the advanced education in general dentistry residency program and the advanced standing dental program for internationally educated dentists;
• Leading dental education during COVID in providing students with technology and equipment to continue to practice their hand skills at home during the university shutdown;
• A 28 percent increase in grants and contracts this fiscal year and a near doubling in NIH research funding since 2019 as well as expansion of the research program through ongoing recruitment of basic scientists and recent recruitment of clinician-scientists, bringing expertise in the areas of orthodontics and geroscience, operative dentistry and dental materials, digital dentistry and public health dentistry;
• The development of a highly effective clinical model that has transformed students’ patient care experiences and improved continuity of care for patients;
• Collaborating with the Munroe-Meyer Institute to provide oral health services for individuals with intellectual and development disabilities in the Caring for Champions Clinic ;
• Partnering with five Federally Qualified Health Centers in Nebraska and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Office of Oral Health and State Dental Health Director, Dr. Charles Craft,  in providing oral health care services and screening and oral health education to the citizens of Nebraska;
• Increased outreach to rural Nebraska, including a $4 million, 10-year contract from the State of Nebraska to increase oral health services, including telehealth services and the number of dental graduates practicing in rural Nebraska (Dr. Guthmiller – principal Investigator);
• Continuous funding of the Summer Health Professions Education Program supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – a six-week program for undergraduate students underrepresented in the health professions (Dr. Guthmiller – co-principal investigator);
• Navigating an academic, research and clinical enterprise through the COVID pandemic in partnership with the UNMC infectious disease team, UNMC College of Nursing, Nebraska Medicine, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, Nebraska Public Health Laboratory, Department of Health and Human Services,  Lincoln-Lancaster Public Health Department and the Big Ten dental deans to develop new clinical protocols for treating patients, providing a safe facility for faculty, staff, students  and patients, securing COVID testing for patients and the college community, securing COVID vaccines and PPE, and educating students on vaccine administration.

Dr. Gold said that Dr. Guthmiller embodies the tripartite mission of the academic health sciences center, excelling in research, clinical care and education. She is a nationally recognized leader in dental education and an accomplished researcher, author and teacher. Dr. Guthmiller has been the recipient of collegiate, university and national teaching and mentoring awards, including the Faculty Mentor of the Year from the National Student Research Group of the American Association for Dental Research in 2007. Dr. Guthmiller’s NIH-funded research has encompassed molecular biological studies of periodontal pathogens and expression and function of innate antimicrobials. She has published numerous manuscripts and abstracts, two books and several book chapters.

Before coming to UNMC, Dr. Guthmiller held the positions of associate dean of academic affairs and professor in the department of periodontology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry, and she was a faculty member at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry and the University of Iowa College of Dentistry.