EDITORIAL-DETAILS (JDOH)
Gajanan (Kiran) Kulkarni
Associate Professor
University of Toronto
Canada
Biography
Dr. Gajanan Kulkarni is a tenured Associate Professor of Dentistry at the University of Toronto where he has been working since 1998. After his undergraduate dental training he obtained a M.Sc. degree and followed that with a specialty diploma in Pediatric Dentistry and a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Toronto. Following his formal education Dr. Kulkarni completed two post-doctoral fellowships at Guy’s Hospital, London, UK and Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. He is presently a Fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada and a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry. Dr. Kulkarni has over 150 publications and presentations in various fields of basic and clinical dental research and he is on the editorial boards of several journals. His duties as a full-time academic include teaching of undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students. Dr. Kulkarni also maintains an active research program with several graduate and post-doctoral students. His main research interests are in fields related to Pediatric Dentistry. He, along with one co-investigator, presently holds a Federal Canadian Institutes for Health Research Grant worth nearly $250,000. Complimenting his academic career, Dr. Kulkarni (aka “Dr. Kool” to kids in his practice) practices pediatric dentistry with a special focus on children with special needs. Most recently Dr. Kulkarni, along with his graduate students, has developed a program for the promotion of Infant and Baby Oral Health. He has partnered with several community organizations and has been volunteering regularly to deliver this program. These programs are in communities such as St. James Town and Regent Park which are predominantly low income, new immigrant populations and with lots of children lots of dental problems and little or no access to dental care. Dr. Kulkarni and his students have seen more than 500 families, with more that 1000 children, have been seen in these programs, over the past three years. He is seeing very encouraging results in terms of reduction in dental problems and in parents seeing timely care for their children and themselves. He counts this as his most satisfying and significant professional contribution. Dr. Kulkarni has presented numerous continuing education courses and is an invited speaker to national and international conferences. Topics covered in his courses include: Infant oral health, restorative and pulp therapy for primary teeth, occlusal guidance in the primary and mixed dentition stages, behaviour management and sedation in pediatric patients, management of pediatric emergencies and complications, current standards, policies and guidelines in pediatric dental care.
Research Interest
Infant oral health, restorative and pulp therapy for primary teeth, occlusal guidance in the primary and mixed dentition stages, behaviour management and sedation in pediatric patients, management of pediatric emergencies and complications, current standards, policies and guidelines in pediatric dental care.