Gregory Olson, DDS’96, MS’11, assistant professor, Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics; Department of Pediatric Dentistry; and Oral Diagnosis, Radiology, and Pathology, has been awarded the 2015 ADEA/Sunstar Americas, Inc./Harry W. Bruce, Jr. Legislative Fellowship.
Dr. Olson is the first LLU School of Dentistry faculty member in the thirty-year history of the award to receive the Legislative Fellowship.
The selected fellow receives a taxable stipend to cover travel and expenses for approximately three months (cumulative) in Washington, DC. “I will be working with the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) to develop policies and educate members of congress in order to affect change to improve the oral health of all Americans,” says Dr. Olson.
He also serves as a faculty scholar on the LLU Institute of Health Policy and Leadership team, an inter-professional group that “aspires to shape the health policy agenda based on our heritage of providing high quality prevention-centered health care that attends to the whole person—mind, body, and spirit.”
Before joining the LLUSD faculty, Dr. Olson practiced pediatric dentistry in Washington state, where he was involved in public oral health projects such as the Access to Baby and Child Dentistry (ABCD) Program and establishing a community dental clinic.
The ADEA release describes the fellowship as “three months in Washington, D.C., working on issues and policies that could make a difference in the life of every American. This public policy fellowship coincides with congressional consideration of the federal budget and other legislative and regulatory activities important to dental education and research. The fellow functions as an ADEA Policy Center staff member who works within the Advocacy and Governmental Relations (ADEA AGR) portfolio on ADEA’s specific legislative priorities.
“The fellow’s responsibilities may include drafting policy, legislative language, position papers and testimony; educating members of Congress and other decision-makers on matters of importance to dental education; and participating in gatherings of various national coalitions.”
LLUSD faculty members who are interested in working with members of Congress, their support staff, or lobby representatives on issues of importance to oral health are encouraged to apply for the 2016 ADEA/Sunstar Americas, Inc./Harry W. Bruce, Jr. Legislative Fellowship here.