Susan Fisher-Owens, MD, MPH

HS CLINICAL PROFESSOR
Pediatrics
+1 628 206-8838

I am a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics in the UCSF School of Medicine, and Clinical Professor of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences in the UCSF School of Dentistry. My goal is to increase the rate and quality of preventive care provided to all children, but especially those who come from less resourced circumstances. I work to accomplish this through clinic, research, and service.

I love being a primary care pediatrician, helping children (and families) grow and develop, at the county hospital, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Concurrently, I get the challenge and pleasure of teaching medical, nursing, and dental students.

My research focuses on preventing the most common chronic condition of childhood, dental cavities, by employing preventive strategies in primary care medical and other non-dental settings, as one example of changing the approach. My conceptual model of children's oral health has been cited widely, and my research now focuses on eliminating oral health disparities. I have been extending this work to help those pregnant and elderly.

I serve locally with CavityFreeSF and in the greater San Francisco region, plus nationally, and internationally. I serve on the California State Oral Health Plan and the California Perinatal and Infant Oral Health Quality Advisory Board. I worked as an executive committee member on the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Oral Health, and still write policies and give workshops for them. I am honored to be asked to write and speak nationally and internationally on my work.

Drawing from my clinic practice, I also have a deep desire to understand immunizations so I can help parents and providers make educated decisions about their preventive care. One skiIlset I have developed is in informatics, to use systems to improve the quality of care provided; I am boarded by the American College of Preventive Medicine, as well as the American Board of Pediatrics.

Publications: 

Pediatric Patient-Centered Care in General Dentistry: We’re Closer Than You Might Think.

Journal of the California Dental Association

Kimberly J. Hammersmith, Susan A. Fisher-Owens, Paul S. Casamassimo

Oral and Dental Aspects of Child Abuse and Neglect.

Susan A. Fisher-Owens, James L. Lukefahr, Anupama Rao Tate

Review of Safety, Frequency and Intervals of Preventive Fluoride Varnish Application for Children.

Journal of the California Dental Association

Lisa H. Berens, Mimansa Cholera, Deborah Elam, Susan A. Fisher-Owens, Margaret Fisher, Stuart A. Gansky, Irene V. Hilton, Kara Lugtu, Robert Isman, Elaine Musselman, Howard Pollick, Ling Zhan

Constructing Matched Groups in Dental Observational Health Disparity Studies for Causal Effects.

JDR clinical and translational research

Cheng J, Gregorich SE, Gansky SA, Fisher-Owens SA, Kottek AM, White JM, Mertz EA

Oral Health: A Critical Piece to Develop into a Healthy Adult.

Pediatric clinics of North America

Coppes MJ, Fisher-Owens SA

Gathering the Fish and Casting a Net: San Francisco's Children's Oral Health Strategic Plan.

Pediatrics

Susan Fisher-Owens, Carolyn L Brown, Lisa Chung, Margaret Fisher, Stuart Gansky, Amor Santiago, Kevin Grumbach

Case Study: School-Based Oral Health Screening in San Francisco as an Essential Public Health Service.

Journal of the California Dental Association

Jodi D. Stookey, Margaret Fisher, Lisa H. Chung, Stuart A. Gansky, Mary Jue, Susan A. Fisher-Owens, Deborah Elam, Christine E. Miller, Claire Sit, Prasanthi Patel, Irene V. Hilton

Oral and Dental Aspects of Child Abuse and Neglect.

Pediatrics

Fisher-Owens SA, Lukefahr JL, Tate AR

Oral and Dental Aspects of Child Abuse and Neglect.

Pediatric dentistry

Fisher-Owens SA, Lukefahr JL, Tate AR

Increased public reimbursement for prophylactic visits with dentists associated with increased receipt of preventive dental services in children.

Journal of public health dentistry

Fisher-Owens SA, Amendola L, Featherstone JDB, Inge RE, Flaherman VJ

Geography matters: state-level variation in children's oral health care access and oral health status.

Public health

Fisher-Owens SA, Soobader MJ, Gansky SA, Isong IA, Weintraub JA, Platt LJ, Newacheck PW

Maternal differences and birth outcome disparities: Diversity within a high risk prenatal clinic.

Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities

Thomas M, Spielvogel A, Cohen F, Fisher-Owens S, Stotland N, Wolfe B, Shumway M

An examination of racial/ethnic disparities in children's oral health in the United States.

Journal of public health dentistry

Fisher-Owens SA, Isong IA, Soobader MJ, Gansky SA, Weintraub JA, Platt LJ, Newacheck PW

Racial disparity trends in children's dental visits: US National Health Interview Survey, 1964-2010.

Pediatrics

Isong IA, Soobader MJ, Fisher-Owens SA, Weintraub JA, Gansky SA, Platt LJ, Newacheck PW

Evidence suggests there was not a "resurgence" of kernicterus in the 1990s.

Pediatrics

Brooks JC, Fisher-Owens SA, Wu YW, Strauss DJ, Newman TB

Telephone case management for asthma: an acceptable and effective intervention within a diverse pediatric population.

The Journal of asthma : official journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma

Fisher-Owens SA, Boddupalli G, Thyne SM

The complexities of home visitation for children with asthma in underserved communities.

The Journal of asthma : official journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma

Thyne SM, Fisher-Owens SA

Most pregnant women in California do not receive dental care: findings from a population-based study.

Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)

Marchi KS, Fisher-Owens SA, Weintraub JA, Yu Z, Braveman PA

Assessing a multilevel model of young children's oral health with national survey data.

Community dentistry and oral epidemiology

Bramlett MD, Soobader MJ, Fisher-Owens SA, Weintraub JA, Gansky SA, Platt LJ, Newacheck PW

Giving policy some teeth: routes to reducing disparities in oral health.

Health affairs (Project Hope)

Fisher-Owens SA, Barker JC, Adams S, Chung LH, Gansky SA, Hyde S, Weintraub JA

Influences on children's oral health: a conceptual model.

Pediatrics

Fisher-Owens SA, Gansky SA, Platt LJ, Weintraub JA, Soobader MJ, Bramlett MD, Newacheck PW