Biopsies Save Lives

Principal investigator: Mark Mintline, DDS

Co-Investigators: Sergei A Grando, MD, PhD, Dsc; Sahar Mirfarsi, DDS; Linda Valenzuela; Brian Loveless, DO; Jeffrey A. Elo, DDS, MS; Bradley Henson, DDS, PhD; Lucian O’Connor, PhD; Marc Yale, BA; Patrick Dunn, BA, MFA; Rebecca Strong, BS; Leah Schueler, EdD; Olabisi Carr, MBA; Tobias Boehm, DDS, PhD; Tyesha Younger, MS, DMD ’24

Funders: Quest for Health Equity (Q4HE); Delta Dental Community Care Foundation

Biopsies Save Lives is a patient-centered and interprofessional program developed by the Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) College of Dental Medicine (CDM), University of California of California – Irvine (UCI) Health Dermatology Department, and the International Pemphigus & Pemphigoid Foundation (IPPF) that provides low or no-cost laboratory testing and oral diagnostic services to patients with pemphigus and pemphigoid in underserved communities across Southern California. The purpose of Biopsies Save Lives is to improve access to diagnostic laboratory testing services for low-income people with autoimmune blistering diseases and to support education and training for the delivery of oral diagnostic services to people with erosive and blistering diseases. With support from the Quest for Health Equity (Q4HE) initiative and the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation, Biopsies Save Lives provides free or low-cost consultations, intraoral biopsies, routine anatomic pathology testing services, direct immunofluorescence, and serum testing for patients with erosive and blistering diseases to low-income, uninsured, and underserved populations. The program also educates predoctoral students and healthcare providers to help screen and biopsy erosive and blistering diseases while promoting the interdisciplinary care of pemphigus and pemphigoid. Biopsies Save Lives is determined to expand the network of advocacy for people affected by pemphigus and pemphigoid by working with national dental and medical organizations to promote a medical-dental integrated model of diagnosis.  We envision Biopsies Save Lives becoming the gold standard model of patient-centered care to bridge the health equity gap in underserved communities to diagnose chronic autoimmune blistering diseases.

Biopsies Save Lives will be featured in upcoming newsletters from the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology (AAOMP) and American Academy of Oral Medicine (AAOM).

Oral Biopsies Save Lives

Principal investigator: Mark Mintline, DDS

Co-Investigators: Elizabeth Andrews, DDS, MS; Bradley Henson, DDS, PhD; Lucian O’Connor, PhD; Leah Schueler, EdD

WesternU’s College of Dental Medicine (CDM) has also recently teamed up with the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Delta Dental of California, to advance equity in oral pathology laboratory testing to Tribal and Urban Health Programs across California. The Oral Biopsies Save Lives program will offer no-cost oral pathology services and continuing education courses to 34 rural and urban dental clinics operated by 107 Tribes.

Read more on WesternU News.

WesternU Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program
Part F Dental Reimbursement Program

Principal investigator: Mark Mintline, DDS

Co-Investigators: Bradley Henson, DDS, PhD; Sahar Mirfarsi, DDS; Alexander Lee, DMD

This Dental Reimbursement Program improves access to oral health care services for low, income, and underserved people with HIV and helps train dental students to deliver dental care to people living with HIV. The DRP will reimburse certain costs incurred by eligible entities that have provided uncompensated or partially uncompensated oral health care.

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