Dr. Steve Bender is a retired Associate Professor from Texas A&M University College of Dentistry in Dallas Texas where he directed the Facial Pain and Sleep Medicine Clinic. Currently he serves as a guest lecturer for the LSU orofacial pain residency program. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain and has earned Fellowships in the American Academy of Orofacial Pain, the American Headache Society, and the American College of Dentists. In addition, he is a past president of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain. He earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas, Texas in 1986 and then studied orofacial pain and temporomandibular disorders at the Parker E Mahan Facial Pain Center at the University of Florida College of Dentistry, Gainesville Florida from 1998 to 2000. Since that time, his practice was limited to the diagnosis and management of orofacial pains. Dr. Bender currently serves as an Associate Editor for CRANIO® The Journal of Craniomandibular & Sleep Practice. He has also published numerous peer reviewed articles and contributed multiple book chapters. Dr. Bender is a frequent invited presenter for both dental and medical conferences.

Dr. Chakarvarty is an orofacial pain specialist who is a diplomate of the American academy of Orofacial pain and American academy of dental sleep medicine. She earned her Doctorate of dental surgery from New York College of dentistry in 2014, following which she worked as a general for 9 years before going back to pursue a 2 year residency in orofacial pain at the University of Kentucky. Since then, she has limited her practice to the diagnosis and management of orofacial pain at her private practice in Austin, Texas.

Emily Kahnert, PT, DPT, PhD, CCTT, is a physical therapist and clinician scientist in the Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD), Orofacial Pain and Dental Sleep Medicine Clinic at the University of Minnesota (UMN) School of Dentistry and adjunct faculty in the UMN Division of Physical Therapy. Her 20 years of clinical practice have been exclusively focused on treating TMD and orofacial pain in interdisciplinary settings and her research interests include classification of orofacial pain, telerehabilitation and TMJ biomechanics.

Dr. Moreno Hay is currently the Division Chief and Program Director of Orofacial Pain at the College of Dentistry, University of Kentucky. She is an Associate Professor at the College of Dentistry, University of Kentucky. She obtained her dental degree from the University Complutense of Madrid, School of Dentistry (Spain). Dr. Moreno graduated from the 2-year CODA approved program in Orofacial Pain at the University of Kentucky in 2013. She became a Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain in 2015, and Diplomate of the American Board Dental Sleep Medicine. She is currently the President Elect of the AAOP and Chair of the Scientific Committee of the SEDCYDO. She is also an active member of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. She has published several research articles in peer reviewed journals, book chapters, and has lectured in scientific national and international meetings.

Dr. Mariona Mulet Pradera is an orofacial pain specialist in St Paul, MN. She is board-certified by the American Board of Orofacial Pain (ABOP) and by the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine (ABDSM). She has dedicated her career to the field of orofacial pain since 2001, and provides care to orofacial pain patients in a multidisciplinary clinical setting at Health Partners Group in Minnesota. She is also the Associate Program Director of the Orofacial Pain Graduate Program at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. She is currently the immediate past president of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain (AAOP).

Thomas Weber is the Director of Orofacial Pain at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. He received his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Indiana University (2006) and then completed an Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency at Wright-Patterson Medical Center (2007). Dr. Weber received his certificate in Orofacial Pain (2014) and Masters in Dental Science (2015) from the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry. He is an assistant professor in the Uniformed Services University Postgraduate Dental College and an instructor in the Air Force’s Comprehensive Dentistry residency. Dr. Weber is an officer and fellow of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain and a diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain.

Prof. Daniele Manfredini received his DDS from the University of Pisa, Italy in 1999, a MSc in Occlusion and Craniomandibular Disorders in 2001 from the same University, a PhD in Dentistry from the ACTA Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and a Post-Graduation Specialty in Orthodontics from the University of Ferrara, Italy. He achieved the Diplomate Status from the American Board of Orofacial Pain in 2021.

From 2006 to 2016, Daniele Manfredini has been Assistant Professor at the TMD Clinic, Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Padova, Italy.

Since 2017, Daniele Manfredini has served as Professor at the School of Dentistry, Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, Italy, where he holds teachings in Oral Physiology and in Clinical Gnathology. He is currently the Director of the Orofacial Pain Unit.

Daniele Manfredini authored more than 330 papers in the field of bruxism, orofacial pain, and temporomandibular disorders in journals indexed in the Medline database (Scopus H-index=65).

He is Member and Coordinator of the Bruxism Consensus Panel within the International Association for Dental Research, which works on the updated definition and classification strategies for bruxism and for which he currently serves in the INfORM Board of Directors.

Since January 1st, 2024, Daniele Manfredini is the Editor-in-Chief of CRANIO: The Journal of Craniomandibular and Sleep Practice.

Dr. Okeson is Professor, Chairman of the Department of Oral Health Science and Director of the College's Orofacial Pain Center, which he established in 1977. Dr. Okeson has more than 240 publications in the area of occlusion, TM disorders and orofacial pain in various national and international journals. He is past president of both the American Academy of Orofacial Pain and the American Board of Orofacial Pain. He has authored two textbooks on TM disorders and orofacial pain, which have been translated into eleven different languages. Dr. Okeson is a very sought after lecturer on the subject of TMD and orofacial pain and has presented more than 1100 invited lectures on the subject of TMD and orofacial pain in all 50 states and in 54 different countries. He has received the campus wide University of Kentucky “Great Teacher Award”, the Provost’s Distinguished Service Professorship, the University of Kentucky Hall of Distinguished Alumni Award, the American Academy of Orofacial Pain’s Service Award, and the first ever “Distinguished Alumni Award” from the College of Dentistry. Dr. Okeson has also received “The International Dentist of the Year Award” from the Academy of Dentistry International. This is the highest award recognized by this Academy and was given to him in recognition of his worldwide efforts in providing education in the area of temporomandibular disorders and orofacial pain.

Sean Mackey, MD, PhD is the Redlich Professor and Chief of the Division of Pain Medicine at Stanford University, where he leads the Stanford Pain Management Center, one of the nation’s premier programs for comprehensive, multidisciplinary pain care. A physician-scientist, Dr. Mackey leads research at the intersection of pain, neuroscience, and technology, with a focus on developing innovative approaches to assess and treat chronic pain. His work spans from real-world data science to biomarker discovery, leveraging AI and learning health systems to optimize patient care. Dr. Mackey is the author of over 300 journal articles and book chapters in addition to numerous national and international lectures. He has served as past president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine and has advised federal agencies on national pain policy. He was Co-Chair of the HHS/NIH National Pain Strategy (NPS), an effort to establish a national health strategy for pain care, education and research.  For more information: https://drseanmackey.com

Sandip Biswal, M.D., is a musculoskeletal radiologist and researcher who recently joined University of Wisconsin Madison as Professor of Radiology. Driven by the fact that a significant proportion of patients suffering from chronic pain fail to achieve reasonable pain relief- a problem compounded by the inability of current imaging approaches to accurately identify pain generators, it has been Dr. Biswal’s mission to develop translatable clinical molecular imaging methods to precisely pinpoint the source and location of one’s pain that will enable more effective treatment of pain suferers. Using positron emission tomography (PET) and tracers designed to seek nociceptive or inflammatory-specific receptors, cells or ion channels, his group has been developing a variety imaging methods to accurately identify the exact peripheral source of pain generation. After initially developing and validating these methods preclinically, he now currently conducts clinical trials imaging pain generators for the past decade utilizing both FDA-approved and new PET radiotracers to ‘image pain’ and inflammation. His group has imaged over 400 patients using this new PET/MR imaging approach and have ‘cured’ pain or significantly decreased pain in a growing subset of patients. More recently at UW Madison, he has been able to repurpose FDG (which can now be covered by the patient’s own insurance) as a sensitive inflammatory marker of inflammatory pain to diagnose pain generators. He looks forward to others adopting this approach and helping those suffering from chronic pain.

Dr. Boggero is the Director of Psychological Services and Director of Research at the University of Kentucky Orofacial Pain Clinic. He also has joint appointments in Anesthesiology and in Psychology. He completed his undergraduate education at UCLA and obtained his Ph. D. in clinical psychology from the University of Kentucky, with a graduate certificate in biostatistics. After his Ph.D. he completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center where he worked with children and families with chronic pain. His research interests are in developing brief psychological interventions for improving pain, sleep, and fatigue in patients with chronic pain. His work has been funded by the NIH and the American Psychological Association among other organizations. He has over 100 publications or poster presentations, and has been invited to give talks across the country and the world on psychological management of chronic orofacial pain. He is currently working on an NIDCR K23 award which aims to develop a brief telehealth treatment for patient with chronic masticatory muscle pain.  In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with family, playing soccer, hiking, cooking, and reading. He would love to play you chess online (but he is not very good).

Monica Gremillion, PhD, is a pediatric psychologist who collaborates within interdisciplinary pain treatment teams in both outpatient clinics and intensive pain treatment programs. Committed to enhancing the health and quality of life for patients with chronic pain, Dr. Gremillion’s clinical work and research prioritize elevating patient voices and fostering partnerships in pain care. Her clinical research specifically targets reducing perceptions of pain dismissal and cultural conceptualizations of pain. Alongside her clinical practice, Dr. Gremillion serves as the Associate Director of the Pediatric Psychology Practicum Program, where she oversees the training of graduate-level psychology students, provides supervision, contributes to curriculum development for didactics, and leads program evaluation efforts. She has spearheaded a workgroup dedicated to developing a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative for psychology residents, with the goal of integrating awareness of individual and cultural differences into professional settings. Dr. Gremillion finds mentoring trainees to be profoundly rewarding within the realm of academic medicine, recognizing its importance in cultivating a new generation of pain scholars. She serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the US Association for the Study of Pain in their clinical care/patient advocacy seat.

Beth Darnall, PhD is Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and Director of the Stanford Pain Relief Innovations Lab. A psychologist-scientist, she leads NIH and PCORI-funded national studies on scalable behavioral analgesic interventions and patient-centered opioid reduction.

Her work centers on developing, investigating and disseminating solutions that expand access to evidence-based behavioral pain care across populations. She created Empowered Relief® a 1-session group intervention that rapidly equips individuals with effective pain relief skills for acute, chronic, and post-surgical pain. Empowered Relief® is delivered by certified instructors in 30 countries and in 8 languages.

She has three times briefed the U.S. Congress and the FDA on patient-centered pain care and opioid stewardship. She was a scientific member of the NIH Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (2020-2025), served on the CDC Opioid Workgroup (2021), is Chief Science Advisor for AppliedVR, and is author of four books for patients and clinicians. She has keynoted national pain society conferences in Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.K. In 2018 she spoke on the psychology of pain relief at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Dr. Elizabeth Hatfield is a board-certified orofacial pain specialist and Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain (DABOP), with deep clinical and academic expertise in the diagnosis and management of complex orofacial pain conditions. Her areas of focus include temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD), neuropathic facial pain, headache disorders, and sleep-related breathing conditions with a special passion for education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

A faculty member at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry since 2020, Dr. Hatfield currently serves as Program Director of the TMD & Orofacial Pain Residency. She is committed to advancing the field through evidence-based, patient-centered care and a strong emphasis on interprofessional collaboration. Her research interests focus on innovative management strategies for orofacial pain and the power of interprofessional education to improve patient outcomes.

Whether she’s in the clinic, the classroom, or in her favorite Ann Arbor, MI, Dr. Hatfield continues to advocate for advancing orofacial pain as a vital and evolving field within healthcare.

Peter Goadsby MD PhD FRS is Senior Associate to the President and Professor, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia. He is Director, NIHR King’s Clinical Research Facility, Professor of Neurology, King’s College London, and an Honorary Consultant Neurologist at King’s College Hospital and the Hospital for Children, Great Ormond St, London, UK. He is a National Institute for Health and Care Research Emeritus Senior Investigator. He is Emeritus Professor of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles.

Peter Goadsby obtained his medical degree and training at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, and neurology training with James W. Lance and clinical neurophysiology with David Burke. He did post-doctoral work in New York with Don Reis at Cornell, and Jacques Seylaz, Paris, and post-graduate neurology training at Queen Square, London with C David Marsden, Andrew Lees, Anita Harding and W Ian McDonald. He returned to UNSW, and the Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, as a consultant neurologist and became an Associate Professor of Neurology. He was appointed Wellcome Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Neurology, University College London and was Professor of Clinical Neurology and Honorary Consultant Neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London. He was Professor of Neurology, at University of California, San Francisco.

Professor Rob Delcanho originally graduated in Dentistry in 1978 from the University of Western Australia, and entered general dental practice. From 1991-93 he was in the first cohort to complete the 2 year Orofacial Pain Residency Program and Masters degree in Oral Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His thesis investigated blood flow characteristics in chronic muscle pain.

Upon returning to Australia, he commenced practice restricted to Orofacial Pain, Temporomandibular Disorders and Dental Sleep Medicine. Rob has since lectured at local, national and international based conferences on topics related to orofacial pain and dental sleep medicine. Rob is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain, and a Fellow of the Faculty of Pain Medicine, ANZ College of Anesthetists. He is a past President of the ANZ Academy of Orofacial Pain, and a past Fellow of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain. He also served on the Editorial Committee of the Journal of Oral & Facial Pain and Headache.

Rob has published numerous scientific papers in peer reviewed journals, invited to write textbook chapters, and acted as expert reviewer of submissions to a number of peer reviewed scientific journals. He is appointed a Clinical Associate Professor at the Dental School of University of Western Australia, Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor, Medical School, Sydney University, and Adjunct Professor in Orofacial Pain Medicine at the School of Medicine, Notre Dame University. He continues teaching at both undergraduate and postdoctoral levels and was appointed by the Dean to a team developing a syllabus leading to a MScMed Degree in Orofacial Pain at Sydney University, where he also continues teaching orofacial pain.

Dr. Linda Bluestein is a leading expert in hypermobility disorders and the founder of Hypermobility MD. She also leads Bendy Bodies, a global coaching practice supporting individuals with hypermobility. Dr. Bluestein hosts the podcast Bendy Bodies with the Hypermobility MD and contributed to the book Disjointed – Navigating the Diagnosis and Management of Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders.

After earning her MD from UCLA School of Medicine, Dr. Bluestein completed an anesthesiology residency at the Mayo Clinic. She is board-certified in anesthesiology and an assistant professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

An advocate for education and research, Dr. Bluestein serves on several boards, including the Allergy and Immunology Working Group for the International Consortium on EDS and HSD. She developed the first online EDS Continuing Medical Education program and is an international speaker on pain, hypermobility, and dance medicine.

For more information, visit HypermobilityMD.com.

Patricia Stott treats primarily those with HSD/EDS and those considered highly sensitive patients at her own practice, Elevation Wellness, outside the Denver metro area in Colorado. Also trained in functional and herbal medicine, she works on health and wellness through holistic strategies with these patients, both in person and through telehealth appointments. With an extensive background in orthopedics, she now focuses on interventions for the autonomic nervous system, neural manipulation, visceral manipulation, fascial counterstrain, and craniofacial work to treat the more complicated patients who have not fared well in standard rehab settings. Her specialties with this population include upper cervical instability, median arcuate ligament dysfunction, and spinal cord tethering.

Patty has previously created courses about HSD/EDS for medical professionals and continues to work to educate patients and medical practitioners. She was a coauthor of the 2019 Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Journal article “Recognizing and Effectively Managing Hypermobility-Related Conditions” and the 2023 Frontiers in Neurology journal article “Presentation and Physical Therapy Management of Upper Cervical Instability in Patients With Symptomatic Generalized Joint Hypermobility: International Expert Consensus Recommendations.” She is a cohost for the North American EDS ECHO for Allied Health Professionals and is also a member of the EDS International Consortium. Patty was the primary author for Taming the Zebra: Volume 1 written for rehabilitative health professionals, and recently released a medical memoir, Dare to Dazzle.

Dr. Linda Sangalli, DDS, MS, PhD, is a dentist as training (University of Brescia, Italy), with a specialization in Orthodontics and a Ph.D. in Technology for Health (Italy). After working for a decade as a specialist orthodontist, she moved to the University of Kentucky to complete a master of science in Orofacial Pain, along with a Graduate Certificate in Applied Statistics. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain.

Currently, Dr. Sangalli works as a Clinical Assistant Professor at Midwestern University, College of Dental Medicine – Illinois, where she is responsible for teaching orofacial pain to predoctoral students and manages patients with orofacial pain. She is also attending physician at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago.

Her research centers on non-pharmacological strategies for managing orofacial musculoskeletal pain, with a particular focus on the relationship between sleep and chronic pain. She also investigates how social determinants, including sex differences, influence orofacial pain. For her research, she received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIDCR), ADEAGies Foundation, American Headache Society, American Academy of Orofacial Pain, International Association for the Study of Pain, International Association for Dental Research, and American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. She also published over 70 peer-reviewed scientific articles all in the past 5 years and contributed to numerous books and national presentations on orofacial pain.

Dr. Vistoso Monreal received her DDS from Universidad de Chile, an Advanced Program Certificate in Prosthodontics from Universidad del Desarrollo, earned a Master of Science degree in Orofacial Pain and Oral Medicine with an Advanced Program Certificate in Orofacial Pain from USC, and took part in an additional Advanced Clinical Training in Oral Medicine at UCSF. She is an Orofacial Pain Board-Certified specialist and Assistant Professor of Clinical Dentistry at the Orofacial Pain and Oral Medicine Center, Director of OralCare Precancer and Pain Clinic, Director of Distance Learning Programs, and Director of the Orofacial Pain Certificate Program at the University of Southern California. She serves as the secretary/treasurer of the American Board of Orofacial Pain. Her research is focused on oral precancer and precision orofacial sciences with the application of Artificial intelligence in the subdisciplines of orofacial pain and oral medicine.

LtCol Justin G. Peacock, MD, PhD, is the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine Associate Dean for Research and an Assistant Professor of Radiology. He also serves as the Associate Program Director of the Radiology Residency at the National Capital Consortium. He came to USU after serving as the Nuclear Medicine Fellowship Program Director and Assistant Program Director of quality improvement and patient safety in the Diagnostic Radiology residency in the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium.

LtCol Peacock graduated with a BS in Biochemistry with Honors from Brigham Young University in 2004. He then entered Yale University, where he obtained a PhD in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry in 2010. He received his MD in 2014 from the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. Dr. Peacock went on to a Transitional Year internship, Diagnostic Radiology residency, and Nuclear Medicine fellowship in the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium.

LtCol Peacock is passionate about integrating technological advances in medical education. He employed interactive gamification in Radiology and medical education, for which he received the 2023 USU Teaching with Technology award. Together with colleagues from the Center for Health Professions Education, he revised the Teaching with Technology Seminar course to include AI and co-developed a brand new course on AI in health professions education. He has published articles on the application of generative AI technologies in medical education in MedEdPublish and Military Medicine. As the School of Medicine Dean’s Fellow, LtCol Peacock developed a series of six faculty development courses on AI application in medical education, administration, and research.

Emily Kahnert, PT, DPT, PhD, CCTT, is a physical therapist and clinician scientist in the Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD), Orofacial Pain and Dental Sleep Medicine Clinic at the University of Minnesota (UMN) School of Dentistry and adjunct faculty in the UMN Division of Physical Therapy. Her 20 years of clinical practice have been exclusively focused on treating TMD and orofacial pain in interdisciplinary settings and her research interests include classification of orofacial pain, telerehabilitation and TMJ biomechanics.

Dr. John Schmidt serves as the Chair of the Department of Psychology, Naval Postgraduate Dental School (NPDS) and Naval Medical Leader & Professional Development Command (NMLPDC) and is a Professor at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He graduated from Widener University with an electrical engineering degree and is a Navy Veteran. He earned his Masters and Doctorate degrees in clinical health psychology from the University of Kentucky.

After graduation, Dr. Schmidt completed a one-year clinical residency at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, KY followed by a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in medical psychology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He remained at Mayo Clinic for three years as a Clinical Research Scholar (NIH K-award) completing additional training in human integrative and exercise physiology.

Prior to joining the NPDS faculty, he served as an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. He has published over fifty peer-reviewed academic journal articles and has co-authored four book chapters focused on the management of chronic pain.

Dr. Brijesh Chandwani is a board-certified orofacial pain specialist and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Diagnostic Sciences at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. He completed fellowship training in temporomandibular disorders and orofacial pain at Tufts and advanced acupuncture training through Harvard Medical School. In his New York–Connecticut practice, Dr. Chandwani focuses on the diagnosis and management of complex jaw and facial pain, integrating injection therapies, oral appliances, and physical medicine approaches to improve patient outcomes.

Dr. Ricardo Tesch is a distinguished academic and clinician with a respected career in Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD) and Regenerative Medicine. He earned his DDS from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (1992), a Master’s in Head and Neck Surgery from Heliópolis Hospital/São Paulo (2003), and a PhD in Internal Medicine from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2018). His work seamlessly integrates clinical expertise with innovative research, focusing on chronic pain management and joint tissue regeneration.

Dr. Tesch is a Full Professor and Vice-Dean of Research and Innovation at the Faculty of Medicine of Petrópolis/UNIFASE, where he also serves as Director of the Regenerative Medicine Laboratory and Coordinator of the Chronic Pain Research Center. His research interests include exploring the genetic and physiopathological mechanisms of chronic pain and developing innovative cell-based therapies for joint regeneration.

He is also a Visiting Professor at Universidad del Desarrollo in Chile, where he consults for the Postgraduate Program in TMD and Orofacial Pain, and at Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic, where he is the Director of the Postgraduate Program in TMD and Orofacial Pain.

Dr. Tesch is a leader in clinical research in temporomandibular joint (TMJ) regenerative medicine, having pioneered the first in-human clinical trial using autologous nasal septum chondrocytes for TMJ regeneration. His academic contributions include numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals, advancing the fields of diagnostics and therapeutic interventions for TMD.

As a passionate advocate for translational research, Dr. Tesch collaborates with national and international institutions to improve healthcare outcomes. His work has earned recognition and support, including highly competitive government funding for the development of an advanced therapeutic platform for joint diseases. This funding supports the creation of technological solutions aimed at reducing healthcare vulnerabilities, increasing access to care, and promoting technological and productive autonomy within Brazil’s Health Industrial Economic Complex.

Dr. Davis Thomas was born and brought up in Kerala, India. After completing his BSc course in Chemistry, he completed his Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) from KMC, Manipal, India. He received his Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) and one year of Advanced Education in General Dentistry from NYU. While in private practice, he then went on to further his education in the following twenty years to include multiple master’s degrees including orofacial pain (MSD from Rutgers University), headache pain management (MSc from University of Edinburgh), and sleep medicine (MSc Med from University of Sydney). As an assoc. clinical professor (14 years), Dr. Thomas now continues his research in Pain Management at Rutgers School of Dental Medicine and Eastman Dental Center, Rochester, New York. The experience and education Dr. Thomas has acquired over the years has allowed him to lecture extensively all around the world. He has been a commissioned officer in the United Sates Army since 2001. He also has multiple faculty appointments in national and international hospitals and universities. Currently, he is Associate Professor at Rutgers Dental School, NJ, Rochester Eastman Center, NY, and Univ of Perth, Australia. He is also director for OFP/TMD/Sleep medicine courses for Roseman University/Smile USA Academy. He has scores of peer reviewed publications and multiple chapters in textbooks. He is also the Special Guest editor for multiple Special editions for JADA, DCNA and MCNA. He currently practices, teaches and researches exclusively in Pain, Orofacial Pain, Sleep Medicine/Dental Sleep Medicine and Pharmacology. He is also currently pursuing his PhD in Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics.

Dr. Nojan Bakhtiari, DDS, FAAOP, is a board-certified specialist in TMJ and orofacial pain, practicing at his private clinic in Midtown Manhattan. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain and a Fellow of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain.

Before establishing his own practice, Dr. Bakhtiari directed the Orofacial Pain & TMJ service at Yale‑New Haven Hospital (2015-2020) and served on the faculty at University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine and Columbia University College of Dental Medicine.

With a keen interest in building resilient and sustainable private practices, Dr. Bakhtiari brings practical insights into how clinicians can thrive while delivering high-quality care. His session will explore strategies for operational efficiency, patient-centric service, and long-term practice resilience.

Dr. Chinmayee Patil is a first-generation dentist from India whose path reflects a blend of academic commitment and athletic discipline, deeply shaped by the unwavering support and values instilled by her parents. Among the many recognitions she received early in life, the one that shaped her most was becoming one of the youngest archers to win a medal at a state-level championship. The sport taught her discipline, focus, and resilience qualities that continue to guide her professional journey in the specialized field of Orofacial Pain at the University of Southern California.

Orofacial Pain is a field that uniquely bridges dentistry and medicine. During her training, Dr. Patil has contributed to multiple academic publications and remains passionate about advancing awareness, improving diagnosis, and expanding global accessibility to care for patients with orofacial pain conditions.

Dr. Areeg Elmusrati is a clinician-scientist with extensive training in oral pathology, cancer biology, and pain management. She is currently a senior Clinical Resident in the Orofacial Pain and Oral Medicine Center at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, University of Southern California. After earning her dental degree at the University of Tripoli, Libya, she completed advanced training in Diagnostic Oral Pathology at the University of Sheffield, in the United Kingdom, where she earned a Master of Medical Science and PhD with honors. She then advanced her research training as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she received her first NIH grant. Her scholarly work, with over 460 citations, has been widely recognized through awards and invited presentations at national and international conferences, positioning her as an emerging voice at the intersection of research, clinical care, and education. At USC, she integrates her background in pathology and translational cancer research with clinical care in orofacial pain, advancing interdisciplinary approaches to the diagnosis and management of complex craniofacial disorders.

Dr. Andrew Spector is a Professor of Neurology at Duke University with a clinical focus in sleep medicine. He is the author of the book Navigating Life with Restless Legs Syndrome, and he serves as the Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program Director, Vice Chair of Professionalism, Culture, Engagement, and Impact in the Duke Department of Neurology, and the Duke Athletics Sleep Optimization Consultant. Dr. Spector earned his MD from the University of Michigan, completed his neurology residency at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, and a fellowship in sleep medicine at Boston Medical Center. 

Dr. Elizabeth Hatfield is a board-certified orofacial pain specialist and Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain (DABOP), with deep clinical and academic expertise in the diagnosis and management of complex orofacial pain conditions. Her areas of focus include temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD), neuropathic facial pain, headache disorders, and sleep-related breathing conditions with a special passion for education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

A faculty member at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry since 2020, Dr. Hatfield currently serves as Program Director of the TMD & Orofacial Pain Residency. She is committed to advancing the field through evidence-based, patient-centered care and a strong emphasis on interprofessional collaboration. Her research interests focus on innovative management strategies for orofacial pain and the power of interprofessional education to improve patient outcomes.

Whether she’s in the clinic, the classroom, or in her favorite Ann Arbor, MI, Dr. Hatfield continues to advocate for advancing orofacial pain as a vital and evolving field within healthcare.

I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. My academic and clinical background includes training in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, which has shaped my strong interest in evidence-based medicine and the development of minimally invasive treatments for a wide spectrum of craniomaxillofacial conditions.

Under the mentorship of my supervisors, my current research focuses on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), particularly in understanding the underlying mechanisms that contribute to the disorder, such as different endotypes, and evaluating the outcomes of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments.

Looking ahead, I aspire to pursue a career as a surgeon-scientist. I am especially interested in exploring how minimally invasive surgical therapies can be effectively combined with non-surgical approaches to optimize treatment outcomes.

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Dr. Monteiro reported no financial conflicts of interest.

Dr. Adams is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Pediatric Rheumatology at Corewell Beaumont Hospital and Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. He attended medical school at SUNY-Downstate and completed residency at Kings County Hospital. He completed his Pediatric Rheumatology fellowship at the University of Mighigan.

Sherwin Arman, D.M.D., M.P.H., is an associate clinical professor and director of the Orofacial Pain and Dysfunction residency program and department of Continuing Dental Education at the UCLA School of Dentistry. He completed his dental education at Boston university, his residency in orofacial pain at UCLA and MPH degree from UC Berkeley. 

Dr. Padilla is a Professor of Clinical Dentistry and the program director for the Advanced Program in Orofacial Pain at Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC. She completed her DDS in Costa Rica and pursued further education in Orofacial Pain at UCLA. She holds a master’s in education from Latin University and is currently a master student for Project Management at Bovard College in USC.  Dr. Padilla has lectured internationally and published in the areas of orofacial pain and scholarship of teaching.

Dr. James Hawkins currently serves as Chair of the Orofacial Pain Center at the Naval Postgraduate Dental School (NPDS) in Bethesda, MD, as well as the Orofacial Pain Specialty Leader to the Navy Surgeon General. He completed a residency in Orofacial Pain at NPDS and received a Master’s Degree in Oral Biology from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in 2015. In 2017, he received a certificate in Medical Acupuncture from Helms Medical Institute. Dr. Hawkins is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain and the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine. His recent academic awards include the NPDS Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence (2021) and the Walter Reed Associate Master Clinician Award (2021). He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Orofacial Pain. He is also an oral board examiner for the American Board of Orofacial Pain.

Commander Abby Schmidt (USNR) – Dr. Schmidt served on Active Duty in the United States Navy for 11 years. During that time, she completed an Orofacial Pain residency at the Naval Postgraduate Dental School in 2018. In 2022, she moved back to her home state of Michigan and began private practice at the Michigan Center for Facial pain and Sleep in the metropolitan Detroit area. Dr. Schmidt is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain and a fellow of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain.

Commander Preston Criddle (USN) – Dr. Criddle serves as the Orofacial Pain Residency Program Director at the Naval Postgraduate Dental School, Naval Medical Leader and Professional Development Command, in Bethesda, MD. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain and a fellow of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain.

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Hargitai graduated from Case Western Reserve University, School of Dentistry in 1996. Dr. Hargitai completed his Oral Medicine residency in 2002, and a fellowship in Orofacial Pain in 2004, both at the Naval Postgraduate Dental School (NPDS), while receiving a Master of Science from the George Washington University. He received a certificate in Medical Acupuncture from the Helms Medical Institute in 2010 and a Certificate in Teaching by the Uniformed Services University in 2016.

Dr. Hargitai is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Medicine as well as the American Board of Orofacial Pain. His research interests lie in characterizing patients with chronic pain. CAPT Hargitai currently serves as Professor and Staff at the Oral Medicine and Orofacial Pain departments at NPDS, Bethesda, MD.

Thomas Weber is the Director of Orofacial Pain at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. He received his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Indiana University (2006) and then completed an Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency at Wright-Patterson Medical Center (2007). Dr. Weber received his certificate in Orofacial Pain (2014) and Masters in Dental Science (2015) from the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry. He is an assistant professor in the Uniformed Services University Postgraduate Dental College and an instructor in the Air Force’s Comprehensive Dentistry residency. Dr. Weber is an officer and fellow of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain and a diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Goforth (USA) – Dr. Goforth is a board-certified Endodontist and is currently pursuing Orofacial Pain specialty training at Navy Postgraduate Dental School, Naval Medical Leader and Professional Development Command.