DANB welcomes 2018-2019 Board of Directors

The Dental Assisting National Board, Inc. (DANB) is pleased to announce its 2018-2019 Board of Directors.

  • Chair — Michael Conte, D.M.D., M.P.H.
  • Vice Chair — Denise Romero, CDA, COA, RDA, OA, M.A.
  • Secretary-Treasurer — Lois Bell, CDA, CPFDA, CRFDA, FADAA
  • Karen L. Comisi, CDA, RDA, FADAA
  • Sandra Garcia, CDA, RDA
  • Steven J. Holm, D.D.S.
  • Mary Macomber, J.D.
  • Meagan Morton, CDA
  • Constance J. Reed, CDA, EFDA, B.S.
  • Executive Director — Cynthia C. Durley, M.Ed., MBA

Election to DANB’s nine-member Board of Directors takes place by the current DANB Board, after receipt of nominations of slates of at least two qualified candidates per DANB Board vacancy, from these four dental membership organizations: the American Dental Association (ADA) (two directors), American Association of Dental Boards (AADB) (one), American Dental Education Association (ADEA) (one) and American Dental Assistants Association (ADAA) (three). The remaining two DANB Board Directors are a DANB Certificant-at-Large (one, voted on by DANB certificants) and member of the public (one, elected by DANB’s Board of Directors from nominations received by DANB’s Nominating Committee). All DANB Board Directors responded to interview questions while being considered for their positions.

Michael Conte, D.M.D., M.P.H., of Spotswood, New Jersey, is the newly elected Board Chair. In August 2016, Dr. Conte joined the Board after being elected from a slate of qualified nominees provided by the ADA. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Restorative Dentistry and the Senior Associate Dean for the Office of Clinical Affairs at the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine.

Denise Romero, CDA, COA, RDA, OA, M.A., of Norwalk, California, is the Board Vice Chair. Ms. Romero was elected in 2016 by DANB’s Board of Directors from a slate of qualified nominees provided by the ADAA. Ms. Romero teaches dental assisting as an associate professor for Pasadena City College and is a consultant for dental offices. She is active in many professional associations, including the ADAA and the Board of Directors for the California Association of Dental Assisting Teachers.

Lois Bell, CDA, CPFDA, CRFDA, FADAA, of Greenville, South Carolina, is the Board Secretary-Treasurer. Ms. Bell was elected to DANB’s Board in 2016 from a slate of qualified nominees provided by the ADAA. A dental assistant for more than 40 years, Ms. Bell works at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ VA Greenville Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Greenville, South Carolina.

Karen L. Comisi, CDA, RDA, FADAA, of Ithaca, New York, began serving on DANB’s Board of Directors in April 2015; she was elected to fill a vacant DANB Board position. Ms. Comisi is serving her second of a possible two three-year terms. She has been a dental assistant for over 30 years and is the Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer of Sleep Focused Solutions, Inc. In 2011, Ms. Comisi was appointed as the dental assistant on the New York State Board for Dentistry. There, she currently chairs the Reference Manual Committee and the Committee on Dental Assistant Law, Rules and Regulations.

Sandra Garcia, CDA, RDA, was elected as the DANB Board of Directors Certificant-at-Large in 2015. She was recently elected to begin her second three-year term in August 2018. Ms. Garcia, of San Antonio, Texas, currently works as the Director for Community Clinics for Dental Services at CentroMed, one of Texas’s largest nonprofit Federally Qualified Health Centers.

Steven J. Holm, D.D.S, of Portage, Indiana, was elected to DANB’s Board of Directors in August 2017 and is serving his first of a possible two three-year terms. DANB’s Board selected Dr. Holm from a slate of qualified nominees provided by the ADA. Dr. Holm has been a general dentistry practitioner and an adjunct faculty member at Indiana University Northwest for more than 30 years.

Mary Macomber, J.D., began serving as the public member to DANB’s Board of Directors in August 2017; she is serving the first of a possible two three-year terms. Ms. Macomber is retired from her role as owner and general counsel at Home Instead Senior Care in Coral Springs, Florida. She has been active in numerous governing boards, including being elected to serve on the Board of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence in 2017, and serving from 2011-2017 as the public member on the National Commission for Certifying Agencies.

Meagan Morton, CDA, of Winslow, Indiana, was elected to DANB’s Board of Directors in August 2018, and is serving the first of a possible two three-year terms. DANB’s Board elected Ms. Morton from a slate of qualified nominees provided by the ADAA. Ms. Morton currently works as a surgical dental assistant with Oral Surgery Group in Evansville, Indiana, where she has been employed since 2014.

Constance “Connie” Reed, CDA, EFDA, B.S., began serving on DANB’s Board of Directors in August 2017. She was elected from a slate of qualified nominees provided by the ADEA and is serving her first of a possible two three-year terms. Ms. Reed, of Tampa, Florida, is the Dental Assistant Program Coordinator at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Florida. She has been a member of the ADEA since 2001, and since 2013, she has served as chair of the ADEA’s Dental Assisting Education Section. She also is also a member of the Florida Dental Educators Association, where she has held the positions of president and secretary.

DANB thanks outgoing Board Chair Katharine J. Noble, CDA, CRFDA, SSgt Maine Air National Guard, for her dedicated service on the Board. As Immediate Past DANB Board Chair, Ms. Noble will serve as a Trustee on the 2018-2019 Board of Trustees for the DALE Foundation, DANB’s official affiliate.

Read more about the DANB Board of Directors.