Maria Emanuel Ryan, DDS, PhD is Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at the Colgate-Palmolive Company where she provides oversight and leadership to dental and dermal clinical organizations, knowledge management and scientific communications teams. Dr. Ryan previously served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Oral Biology and Pathology at Stony Brook University where she was actively involved in teaching, clinical practice and research. She is the Past President of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR) and has served on many academic and foundation boards. Dr. Ryan has received numerous awards including NIH National Research Service Awards and a Physician Scientist Award. She received an achievement award from the American Dental Association and was the first recipient of the Victress Health Award to recognize her educational and research efforts in the area of women’s health. Dr. Ryan is a nationally and internationally known speaker and author who has appeared on multiple media outlets to discuss the importance of oral health to overall health and wellbeing as well as the role of the dental professional in the provision of optimal overall health care.