Shillpa Naavaal, BDS, MS, MPH

Dr. Shillpa Naavaal is an associate professor and a health services researcher in the Department of Dental Public Health and Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Dentistry. She is a board-certified diplomate in Public Health Dentistry and a faculty member in VCU’s interdisciplinary iCubed program, Philips Institute for Oral Health Research, and Massey Cancer Center. Her research interests are dental-medical integration, oral health disparities, access to health care, and the use of evidence-based health services among vulnerable populations. Her cancer prevention work focuses on oral cancer and screening disparities, understanding associated risk factors, and addressing HPV, HPV vaccination, and tobacco use. Dr. Naavaal is a recipient of various teaching and scholarship awards and has been funded by the state, NIH, and CDC for her work. She is actively involved in various national and state-level policy and scientific committees, has written professional reports and papers, and published in high-ranked peer-reviewed journals. Before joining VCU, Dr. Naavaal worked as a health scientist and a research fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta. She completed her Dental Public Health residency at the CDC Division of Oral Health, MS Oral Sciences, and MPH at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and dental degree and advanced clinical program from India.