Gustavo Cruz, D.M.D., M.P.H.

Gustavo D. Cruz, D.M.D., M.P.H., is Associate Professor and Director of Public Health and Health Promotion in the Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion at the New York University (NYU) College of Dentistry. He serves as Governance Faculty and Oral Public Health Concentration Leader of the Master’s in Global Public Health Program at NYU. He is Principal Investigator of the Effect of Immigration on Oral Health Study, which is funded by the National Institutes of Dental and Craniofacial Research, one of institutes of the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Cruz received his D.M.D. degree from the University of Puerto Rico and his M.P.H. from Columbia University School of Public Health. He was the recipient of a National Research Fellowship Award during which he also completed a Residency in Oral Public Health at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine and the New York City Department of Health. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Public Health. Dr. Cruz’s professional experience includes being a private practitioner in New York City, a dental examiner for two studies for the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR/NIH), Clinical Director of a community-based clinic at the NYC Department of Health, and Attending Dentist at the Saint Clare’s Hospital and Medical Center.

During 1997-2001, Dr. Cruz was Associate Director of the NIH funded Northeast Research Center for Minority Oral Health where he was also the Principal Investigator of one of the projects within the Center. In 2002, Dr Cruz organized a national conference on “Closing the Gap in Oral Health Disparities among Hispanics” and in 2004 he was co-organizer of the first National Workshop to Develop an Oral Health Research Agenda for Latinos in the US. With funding from the NIH and the NYS Department of Health, Dr. Cruz has conducted numerous research studies on the prevention and control of oral and pharyngeal cancer as well as the effect of race/ethnicity, acculturation and culturally influenced behaviors on health outcomes and health services utilization. Dr. Cruz has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and presented his findings in national and international meetings.