Abhishek Deshpande MD, PhD, FIDSA

Abhishek Deshpande, M.D., Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and Staff in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Infectious Diseases, Cleveland Clinic. His research focuses on the prevention of healthcare-associated infections with an emphasis on Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). Dr. Deshpande has authored over 140 peer-reviewed articles, scientific presentations and book chapters in medical and health services research journals. His research is funded by extramural grants from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and private industry sources.

Debra Goff PharmD, FIDSA, FCCP

Dr. Goff is an Infectious Diseases clinical pharmacist with over 30 years of patient care experience at The Ohio State University (OSU) Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC). She is one of twenty-five global health experts selected by the World Health Organization (WHO) to implement antibiotic stewardship programs in low-middle income countries. Dr. Goff is the Principal Investigator on the first US study with private practice dentists to assess antibiotic use and provide updated practical guidance on the use of antibiotics in dentistry. She has educated over 3,000 private practice dentists across the US.

Erinne Kennedy, DMD, MPH, MMSc

Dr. Erinne Kennedy grew up in Middleport, OH where she first found her love for dentistry by playing every day in her father’s dental office. Erinne graduated from Ohio State University (OSU) with a B.S. in Biology, and a minor in Spanish.  While at OSU, she was heavily involved in undergraduate research through the RUMBA Program, and won third place for her environmental health research at the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum.  

Dr. Kennedy took her love for the dental profession and applied to dental school. She graduated in 2015 with honors from Nova Southeastern University’s College of Dental Medicine (NSU). Dr. Kennedy loved everything about dental school, especially being involved in organized dentistry. While in dental school, she was involved with the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) as a local vice president at NSU and was a national contributing editor to ASDA. After dental school Erinne attended a one-year general practice residency (GPR) at the VA Hospital in Baltimore, MD. Dr. Erinne has a passion for community health and received her certificate of completion for a dental public health (DPH) residency from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) in 2018. She was board-certified in public health in 2019. In May 2019, she graduated as the pioneer student at HSDM with a MMSc in Dental Education. She works at Kansas City University College of Dental Medicine as the Assistant Dean for Curriculum and Integrated Learning.

Erinne has been a part of the American Dental Association (ADA) expert panel for developing the guidelines on the Use of Antibiotics for the Emergency Management of Symptomatic Irreversible Pulpitis, Symptomatic Apical Periodontitis, and Localized Acute Apical Abscess. Also, she was a speaker for the first interdisciplinary statewide training in Massachusetts on antibiotic stewardship. The conference was supported by The Forsyth Institute and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in April 2019. Alongside her team, she helped create and release a state toolkit, website, and training specifically for oral health clinicians on antibiotic stewardship clinical practice.

Currently, she is a contributing editor for two publications: Dental Economics and Dental Entrepreneur Women (DeW). She is an expert spokesperson on behalf of the ADA for antibiotic use and stewardship in dentistry. She serves as secretary to the Council for Education for the American Association of Public Health Dentistry (AAPHD). Dr. Kennedys’ professional affiliations include: ADA, AAPHD, Missouri Dental Association (MDA), Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), and OSAP. 

Marie Fluent, DDS, CDIPC

Dr. Fluent is a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. Her dental career spans 35 years and includes roles as dentist, both as an associate and practice owner, infection control coordinator, office manager, and dental assistant. Additionally, she has extensive experience and expertise as a dental inflection control clinical instructor, educator, speaker, author, and consultant. Dr. Fluent is passionate and deeply committed to improving dental infection control and patient safety. Through her writing, webinars, and invited lectures, she has educated thousands of dental professionals and students nationally and internationally. Dr. Fluent has written numerous peer-reviewed articles on infection control in the dental setting, OSHA compliance, and responsible antibiotic prescribing. She has also earned the CDIPC certification.