Lasting Impressions | Fall 2016

24 © NSU LASTING IMPRESSIONS Re earch s e policy was completely revised and the guideline taken away. “It’s not o en that we take away guidelines,” Chin said. “But when the evidence-based literature comes out and it doesn’t support what we are recommending, as representa- tives of the pediatric dentistry community, we may say that this is something we’re not going to continue to recommend going forth.” In 2013, she was rst author on the AAPD’s “Policy on Infection Control.” Another policy in which she was rst author included a “De nition of Dental Neglect.” “We came out on a national level and said that the tooth is the gateway to the body, so if something happens in the mouth, it needs to be treated,” Chin explained. “ is is where we can have some in uence. We’re regarded on a national level, so these types of policies help give state agencies the ability to move forward to make a case for what they would like to see insurers cover.” Chin, who joined the CDM faculty in June 2016, previ- ously served as an associate professor in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at Indiana University School of Dentistry for 16 years. While the position of pediatric dental resident program director was part of the allure to bring her to South Florida, so were family ties. “My parents have been snowbirds in Florida for almost 25 years,” she said. “ ey have a magni cently large RV. ey spend one month in Orlando, one month in West Palm Beach, one month in Naples, and one month cruising. ey head to Florida at anksgiving, and they don’t go back home to Oklahoma until right a er Easter.” When Chin saw there was an opening at the CDM, she asked colleagues at Indiana University what they knew about NSU. “ e feedback I got was there was a new dean who was progressive. ey said, ‘She will be supportive of your work.’ I also had a resident at Indiana University who graduated from the program two years ago, and he had nothing but praise for the school,” she said. While she’s devoted to her current policy research and working with the CDM’s pediatric residents and its program, Chin plans to continue her clinical research. An estimate for her clinical work at Indiana University is that she has brought in more than $6 million for clinical research over the last 16 years. “And that is probably a conservative estimate,” she said. In her spare time, of which “there isn’t a lot,” she creates simulation programs to educate dentists; however, she has plans moving forward for her virtual reality simulation so ware to help the military. She also said she is looking forward to exploring opportunities at NSU’s new Center for Collaborative Research (CCR). “I’ve heard that the CCR may have space available for people who can do simulations.” Chin said she plans to become a vital part of the CDM. “I was in my last position for 16 years. I’m not going any- where, anytime soon,” adding that she and her husband, Robin, bought a house in Cooper City. “We didn’t consider renting. We come, we stay, and we make the best of every situation,” she said. Judith Chin makes weekly visits to the CDM’s Wilton Manors clinic, where she frequently demonstrates oral health basics to young patients. Continued from previous page