251: Interview with Chief Economist & Vice President of the Health Policy Institute at the American Dental Association,Marko Vujicic, Ph.D, and Executive Director of the American Dental Association, Dr. Ray Cohlmia

Marko Vujicic currently serves as Chief Economist and Vice President of the Health Policy Institute at the American Dental Association. In this role he oversees a comprehensive research program focusing on the U.S. dental care system. Previously, he was Senior Economist with The World Bank in Washington D.C. where he focused on health systems reform in developing countries and directed the global health workforce policy program. He was also a Health Economist with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. In all of these roles, Dr. Vujicic led large-scale strategic initiatives focused on bringing cutting edge data and research to specific health policy challenges. Dr. Vujicic has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals such as Health Affairs, The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Health Services Research, Health Economics, Social Science and Medicine, and Medical Care. He is also the lead author of the book, Working in Health, which examines health workforce challenges globally and has written several book chapters on health care policy issues. His team’s work has been cited by CNN, The New York Times, NBC News, CNBC, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, PBS NOVA, and The Atlantic. He has been invited to provide testimony to federal and state legislative committees. Dr. Vujicic holds several academic appointments. He is adjunct senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania and affiliate faculty at the Center for Health and the Social Sciences, University of Chicago as well as the Center for Health Services and Policy Research at the University of British Columbia. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto and a visiting assistant professor at Tufts University. Dr. Vujicic obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of British Columbia and a Bachelor’s degree in Business from McGill University in Montreal. Dr. Raymond Cohlmia is currently serving as Executive Director of the American Dental Association. He graduated with a Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry in 1988. He was in private practice for 27 years with his father and brother, while also holding a faculty appointment at the College of Dentistry. He served as Assistant Dean for Clinical Operations from 2013 to 2015 and was appointed as Dean of the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry from 2015 to 2021 and concurrently remained in the practice of dentistry during that time. Dr. Cohlmia has served as a delegate to the American Dental Association and 12th District Trustee from 2015 to 2019. Along with his involvement and leadership in academia, he has served in many capacities, including presidencies at the local and state level, served on many national councils, committees, and task forces for the American Dental Association, as well as many other dental organizations.