Following a nationwide search, Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine has appointed Brian J. Howe, DMD, MS, as its new associate dean of clinical operations and patient care. Dr. Howe most recently served as a clinical associate professor in the Department of Family Dentistry, as well as the director of clinics, at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry in Iowa City, Iowa.
Dr. Howe will join the school in his new position beginning in July 2024.
“We are both excited and fortunate to welcome Dr. Howe and his family to the Stony Brook community,” said Dr. Patrick Lloyd, dean of Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine. “His vast experience and demonstrated record of success and innovation at Iowa will prove to be so very valuable as we work to further strengthen the oral healthcare services in our Dental Care Center.”
While overseeing the clinical operations at Stony Brook, Dr. Howe will also serve as a faculty member in its Department of General Dentistry.
“This is an exciting time in dentistry and dental education, and I am excited to join the Stony Brook SDM community as we move dentistry into the future,” Dr. Howe said.
A native of La Crescent, Minnesota, Dr. Howe earned his Bachelor of Arts in biology from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, after which he obtained a Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He also completed his Master of Science in oral science from the University of Iowa in the Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine.
In addition to his academic responsibilities, Dr. Howe has spent several years in private practice in both Iowa City, Iowa, and Madison, Wisconsin, and practiced general dentistry in the college’s faculty practice. He also teaches predoctoral students in the student clinics and has directed the college’s Treatment Planning and Clinical Practice and Professionalism courses. His research interests include discovering patterns in dental anomalies in children with orofacial clefting and using machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to mine data for patterns. Other research areas include using image classification algorithms to identify dental anomalies from intraoral photos and using AI to help integrate technology into clinical operations.
Dr. Howe’s educational prowess and research have earned several accolades, including being named Faculty of the Year at University of Iowa College of Dentistry in 2014. He also received the 2017 International Association of Dental Research (IADR) William J. Gies Award for Clinical Research for his publication “Spectrum of Dental Phenotypes in Nonsyndromic Orofacial Clefting” and in 2023 the David L. Swift Memorial Award from the American Industrial Hygiene Association for best aerosol paper for his publication “Effectiveness of local ventilation controls at reducing respirable aerosol concentrations in a multi-chair dental clinic”. Dr. Howe also is a member of the ADA Council on Dental Education and Licensure, vice chair of the Coalition for Modernizing Dental Licensure, and the councilor for the ADEA section on Clinic Administration.
