Dr. Mark Drangsholt has been named the new chair of the Department of Oral Medicine at the UW School of Dentistry, Dean Martha Somerman has announced. His appointment became effective July 1.

Drangsholt, an associate professor of oral medicine and dental public health sciences, succeeds Dr. Edmond Truelove, who is leaving the chair after 38 years. Truelove will remain on the faculty.

Sommerman also announced that Dr. Linda LeResche has been named vice chair, effective July 1. LeResche is a professor of oral medicine and adjunct professor of oral biology. She is also an affiliate investigator at the Group Health Research Institute.

“Dr. Truelove has left some tremendous shoes to fill, but I know that Dr. Drangsholt and Dr. LeResche have exactly the kind of skills, background, energy and vision to provide the direction we need,” Somerman said. She also lauded Truelove’s leadership in taking oral medicine from a relatively minor diagnostic service to a department of national and global prominence in clinical instruction and research.

Truelove said he hoped to focus on teaching and research and also devote more time to organized dentistry. He serves on the executive committee of Seattle King County Dental Society and as a member of the Washington State Dental Association House of Delegates.

“Although Dr. Truelove will be a difficult act to follow, I’m committed as the new chair to maintain and extend the unique qualities of this multifaceted department so that it will remain a world leader in teaching, research and clinical services,” Drangsholt said. I am especially thankful that LeResche is willing to assist me in leading this complex department. We envision a number of new initiatives in clinical care, teaching and alumni relations that will help to improve the Department of Oral Medicine’s reach and fiscal standing.”

Drangsholt started at the UW as a clinical instructor in 1985. He received his B.A. in zoology from the UW in 1981 and his D.D.S. with honors from the UW in 1984. After a general practice residency at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago, he began a private dental practice in Kent, Wash., where he worked for 10 years.

He returned to the UW and received his M.P.H . in epidemiology in 1992, his certificate in oral medicine in 1995, and his Ph.D. in epidemiology in 2004. He has practice experience in both hospital dentistry and oral medicine. Dransholt has served at Harborview Medical Center and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. He holds a current appointment on active attending staff at UW Medical Center.

His professional memberships including the American Association for Dental Research and International Association for Dental Research, American Academy of Oral Medicine, International Association for the Study of Pain, and the Omicron Kappa Upsilon dental honorary society.

Drangsholt has had more than 40 peer-reviewed scientific publications, more than 70 published abstracts, and five book chapters, and has served as a reviewer for several journals, including the Journal of Dental Research and The American Journal of Medicine. He has also made nearly 100 scientific presentations nationally and internationally.

Drangsholt’s professional honors include recognition by the Society for Epidemiologic Research, American Academy of Orofacial Pain, and the Aubrey Sheiham Award for Distinguished Research in Dental Public Health Sciences, from the International Association for Dental Research. He was selected as Visiting Scientist by Sweden’s Malmo University in 2010.

He has been active in the community and in the UW Dental Alumni Association, including service as president of the association. He lives and his wife, Dr. Heather Woloshyn, a School of Dentistry affiliate faculty member in orthodontics, have two children and live in Federal Way, Wash.

LeResche received her B.A. in biology from Carleton College in 1969 and her Sc.D. in comparative behavior from Johns Hopkins University in 1976. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatric epidemiology at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in 1981.

She started at the UW as a research associate in oral medicine in 1983.

LeResche has directed the School’s Summer Research Fellowship Program (SURF) since 1991, and is co-director of the UW’s Health Sciences-wide Pre-doctoral Clinical Research Training Program. Known internationally for her research on gender aspects of pain, she has served on numerous editorial boards, national and international committees and has received numerous awards, including a national award as an outstanding mentor to dental students.