Harvard Professor to Speak to BHWF on Her Career in Global Oral Health

The importance of oral health is well captured by a phrase now considered a classic in the world of dentistry and public health: “The mouth is the gateway to the body.”

On Feb. 13, the Beacon Hill Women’s Forum (BHWF) welcomes Dr. Brittany Seymour, assistant professor at Harvard School of Dental Medicine in the Department of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology and the Office of Global and Community Health, to share her wide-ranging experiences improving public health around the world.  Cocktail hour will start at 6 p.m., followed by Dr. Seymour’s talk, “Global Dental Crusade,” starting at 6:45 p.m., sharp.  The event will be held at the Hampshire House.

An avid world traveler with a taste for coffee and wine, Dr. Seymour splits her time between teaching, curriculum development, research, projects aimed at eliminating oral diseases globally, and spending time with her husband of 13 years and their 4-year-old daughter.  After completing her doctor-of-dental-surgery degree from the University of Colorado, Dr. Seymour ran her private dental practice in Denver for five years.  She made a bold career pivot: completing a master’s in public health and taking a full-time teaching position at Harvard.  Combining dentistry and global health, Dr. Seymour’s expertise is in prevention, treatment and policy for oral diseases, particularly in resource-poor communities.  She was a leading figure in the establishment of the first dental school in Rwanda; a dental clinic in a major hospital in Haiti after the earthquake; disease prevention programs in arctic Alaska; and innovation in dentistry education in Vietnam.

BHWF is a nonprofit social club whose goal is building community by bringing together all women living in Beacon Hill and its surrounding neighborhoods.  Monthly speaker forums meet on the second Tuesday of each month, September through April, and the Annual Beacon Hill Fashion Show takes place in May.  Various get-togethers outside of the monthly forums are additional opportunities for members to enjoy the company of one another.  For further information about this season’s speakers and events, and to purchase season membership or a monthly pass, visit www.beaconhillwomensforum.org.

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