100 Year Anniversary

Deepak Krishnan, D.D.S., FACS

Deepak Krishnan is the chief of Oral Maxillofacial surgery both at University of Cincinnati and at Cincinnati Children’s hospital and medical center. He is an associate professor of Surgery at the College of Medicine at University of Cincinnati in Ohio, USA, where he teaches and practices. Deepak obtained his dental degree from Bangalore University, India and trained in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Emory University’s College of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. Upon completion of the residency, Deepak pursued further fellowship training in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery focusing on orthognathic surgery at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. Deepak’s clinical interests are in Orthognathic and reconstructive surgery, maxillofacial trauma, pediatric maxillofacial surgery, ambulatory anesthesia and clinical research and simulation. He currently serves on the Committee on Anesthesia (CAN) and the Committee of Education and Training (CET) of the AAOMS. He is a director of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (ABOMS). He is a Fellow of the American college of Surgeons (ACS).

James Q. Swift, D.D.S. 

Dr. James Q. Swift is a tenured Professor and was Director of the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry for 25 years. He recently served as the Program Director of the Advanced Education Program in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery for the second time in his tenure there. He also recently served as Acting Dean in regard to promotion and tenure matters. He continues to practice full scope of OMS while training OMS residents. He was named the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry Century Club Professor of the Year in 2001. Dr. Swift has authored over 100 manuscripts, articles, abstracts and book chapters. He has procured funding from the NIH/NIDCR as a Principal Investigator, securing RO1 support for his scientific work. The James Q. Swift Professorship Endowment was founded and funded at the University of Minnesota in 2016. Dr. Swift received his Bachelor’s of Arts degree (cum laude) from Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA in 1976. He received his dental degree from the University of Iowa in 1980 and his oral and maxillofacial surgery training from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, completing his program in 1985. He was faculty for 4 years at the University of Oklahoma before being recruited by the University of Minnesota. He is also a practicing oral and maxillofacial surgeon at the University of Minnesota. He served the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery as President in 2005, as a Director for 6 years and as a member of the Examination Committee for 6 years. He served the American Dental Education Association as President in 2007-2008 and on the Board of Directors from 2002-2008. Dr. Swift served as a Director of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Foundation (OMSF) from 2009-2012. Dr. Swift is a member of the Medical Professional Liability Association (MPL Association), formerly Physicians Insurance Association of America (PIAA), and completed the PIAA Fellows Program in 2015. He was elected to the PIAA Board of Directors in 2015 and elected as its Secretary in 2016. He was elected MPL Association Vice Chair in 2018, and is slated to become Chair in 2020. He serves on several MPL Association committees including the Executive Committee. He has served the AAOMS on numerous committees including service as an officer and Chair of the Faculty Section. He received the AAOMS’s Daniel M. Laskin Award for the most outstanding Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery article published in 1998. He was OMSF’s Ambassador Service Award recipient in 2004. In 2011, Dr. Swift received the AAOMS/William J. Gies Foundation Gies Award for oral and maxillofacial surgery. He was given the ADEA Distinguished Service Award in 2009. He received the AAOMS’ R.V. Walker Distinguished Service Award in 2015. Dr. Swift was recently named the 2019 Guest of Honor at the Minneapolis District Dental Society in recognition of his contributions to organized dentistry and was selected as the Minnesota Dental Association Guest of Honor for the 2020 MDA Star of the North Annual Session. He is a Fellow of the International College of Dentists, the American College of Dentists and the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Swift was elected as a Member of the Board for the Gorlin Syndrome Alliance in 2020 and serves on committees of the GSA. Dr. Swift has served on the OMSNIC Claims Committee for over 20 years. Dr. Swift has been a Director of OMSNIC since 2006, served as Vice Chair from 2011 to 2013 and as Chair since 2014. He has been a Fortress Insurance Company Director since 2014 and became Chair of the Fortress Board in 2016. He has also served as a Director and Chair of the Board of The River Agency since 2015.

John R. Zuniga, DMD, MS, PhD 

Dr. Zuniga received his dental degree from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts in 1978. He completed a general dental residency in 1979 and an oral and maxillofacial surgery residency at the University of Rochester, Strong Memorial Hospital in 1986.  He received a MS and PhD in Neuroscience in the Neuroendocrine Unit of the University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1986, Center for Brain Research.  He was a full time faculty member of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1986 to 2006.  He served as the Program Director of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residency from 1992 to 2005 and was the co-director of the Oral and Maxillofacial Pain Program.  He served as chair of the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and Parkland Memorial Hospital from 2006 to 2020. He currently is a professor in the Departments of Surgery and Neurology at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas

Dr. Zuniga has authored over 185 contributions to the scientific literature.  Dr. Zuniga’s major research interest includes regenerative neuroscience of the trigeminal nerve, acute and chronic orofacial pain and taste function.  He has been the recipient of numerous research grants, contracts and awards. He has served as a consultant to the editorial boards of a number of scientific and clinical journals, served on the FDA advisory panel for dental products, the examination committee of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and on several research, resident education and faculty committees for AAOMS, the OMS Foundation, the Osteo Sciences Foundation, and the ADA. He is a founding member of the Global Nerve Foundation and sits on the Board to Directors for the Foundation.

As an experienced trigeminal nerve microsurgeon, Dr. Zuniga has performed more than 300 nerve repairs, He also has clinical interests in TMJ disorders, benign pathology, dentoalveolar, and trauma surgery of the oral and maxillofacial region.  He has completed several multisite, randomized clinical trials in acute and chronic pain and trigeminal nerve surgery using processed nerve allografts for jaw reconstruction.