Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Ana Zea Unanimously Elected for 2026 Hispanic Dental Association President
Dr. Ana Zea SPH 20, clinical associate professor of general dentistry and director of community-based education, was unanimously elected in December 2024 as Hispanic Dental Association (HDA) president-elect for 2025.
Following her year as president-elect, she will serve as president (2026) and past president (2027) with the HDA National Executive Committee.
Over the next three years, Zea said she plans to help strengthen the association’s endeavors of service, outreach, research, and education while promoting the HDA’s visibility within the dental community.
“It was very humbling to see that the entire board voted unanimously to give me the opportunity to fill this role,” Zea said. “I am both humbled and honored at the same time, and I feel like there’s a lot more that we can do. I am surrounded by a team of people who are all very committed [and] capable, and that is going to lead us to many good things in the future.”
Zea said she is eager to share her multitude of perspectives with her HDA colleagues to assist with the organization’s mission of empowering healthcare professionals to increase oral health equity and improve healthcare quality in underrepresented populations.
“I am able to speak from different voices as an immigrant of Hispanic descent, as a dentist, as a professional in public health, as a researcher, as a part of [HDA] for so many years, as a faculty person, as an educator,” Zea said. “I feel like there are many components of my work over the years that provide me with information that I can apply into any initiatives or endeavors that we set forth during these years.”
Zea is the second professor from GSDM to be elected as Hispanic Dental Association president. Dr. Raul Garcia, chair and professor of health policy & health services research, served as president in 1998. Zea said her appointment puts a well-deserved spotlight on the entire GSDM community.
“I highly respect Dr. Garcia and everything that he’s done in terms of health equity and research around disparities in oral health and to be in this position now is really a great honor,” Zea said. “I feel like it’s an honor for our school. I have always been very grateful for the support of our school, for all our student activities, for our participation in the organization.”