Floridians for Dental Access (FLDA) is a bipartisan coalition of organizations and individuals working to solve Florida’s oral health crisis. We strongly support evidence-based best practices in modern dentistry and dental hygiene that increase patient health, improve affordability and safely expand access to care through choice and workforce solutions.
Floridians for Dental Access was founded by Dr. Frank Catalanotto, DMD, the former dean and currently a professor in the department of community dentistry and behavioral science at the University of Florida College of Dentistry.
President
American Children’s Campaign
At the state capitol and in communities across Florida, American Children’s Campaign is the leading voice for children and Floridians for Dental Access advocacy partner.
Executive Director
Latino Leadership
Central Florida’s most established grassroots organization committed to fostering the integration of the Hispanic community into mainstream America.
Executive Director
Florida Voices for Health
Florida Voices for Health is a dedicated to creating a health care system that works for every Floridian.
Suncoast Community Health Centers, Inc
Suncoast Community Health Centers is a non-profit Federally Qualified Community Health Center (FQHC) in the Tampa Bay region.
Director of Center for Advocacy and Social Justice
Jacksonville Urban League
Dr. Frank Catalanotto is currently a Professor in the Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Science at the UF College of Dentistry. He graduated from the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 1968 and completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in pediatric dentistry at Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Boston. He has been on the faculty of five dental schools including UFCD where he served as Dean from 1995-2002. While Dean, he initiated the UF Statewide Network for Community Health to provide increased community based educational opportunities for dental students and residents, while also significantly increasing access to oral health care for underserved patients. He also served as Chair of the Department of Community Dentistry at UFCD from 2009-2015.
Dr. Catalanotto has been active in dental education, research and advocacy organizations for much of his career. He is a past president of the American Dental Education Association. He served as a consultant to the Commission on Dental Education for many years, focused on predoctoral dental education. He is the co-author of more than 110 scientific publications and has been the principal investigator or co-investigator for numerous federal, state and foundation grants totaling almost $11,000,000 in external funding since returning to a faculty position at UFCD after stepping down as Dean in 2002. His academic and professional interests include community based dental education, ethics/social responsibility, oral health inequities and racial equity, advocacy for health care reform, and access to dental care. In addition to the above topics, Dr. Catalanotto’s current advocacy efforts, consulting activities and lectures are focused on the new emerging oral workforce models. He is a Vice-Chair of the new national organization – the National Coalition of Dentists for Health Equity and a Co-Chair of the National Partnership for Dental Therapy. He is a founding member and currently the Content Expert for Floridians For Dental Access. Dr. Catalanotto is happy to report that there is life after being a dental school dean.
With respect to Dr. Catalanotto’s leadership of Floridians for Dental Access, the opinions he shares are his own and do not necessarily represent the official viewpoints of any organization with which he is affiliated.
As our Oral Health Projects Coordinator, Elizabeth assists with Floridians for Dental Access with policy development, website management, communications liaison, and collection of all project outcome metrics.
Previously, Elizabeth served as the Oral Health Program Manager at Florida Institute for Health Innovation (FIHI) where she worked under the supervision of FIHI’s CEO and led several oral health projects aimed at increasing access to care for Florida’s most vulnerable populations. She also served as a Research and Project Coordinator at University of Miami (UM) Miller School of Medicine in the Department of Public Health Sciences. In this role, Elizabeth led a research team to conduct a ten-year impact assessment of the Lancet Commission on the Education of Health Professions for the 21st Century and co-authored the follow-up paper, Challenges and Opportunities for Educating Health Professionals After the Covid-19 Pandemic, published in the Lancet in October of 2022. Her previous work experience includes serving as a Project Coordinator at FIHI and Program Evaluation and Research Analyst Intern at Broward Regional Health Planning Council (BRHPC).
Elizabeth received her Master of Public Health degree from the University of Miami and Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Psychology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
In addition to assisting Floridians for Dental Access, she serves as a National Spokesperson for Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child and Oral Health Projects Coordinator for Florida Voices for Health.
