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RPCV Kimberly Jones-Rudolph served in the Peace Corps, working to save the lives of starving and malnourished children in Niger
RPCV Kimberly Jones-Rudolph served in the Peace Corps, working to save the lives of starving and malnourished children in Niger
2003 Recipient: Kimberly Jones-Rudolph '87
A recent article in the Gainesville Sun, included the following quotation from Kimberly Jones-Rudolph, member of Hotchkiss’s Class of 1987: “There is definitely a disparity in oral health care access in our state and our country. Unlike medical care, all you have to do is open a person’s mouth to see what economic resources have been invested in his or her oral health.” It is this disparity that she works tirelessly to eliminate.
Kimberly is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Division of Community-Based Programs at the University of Florida College of Dentistry, where she teaches clinical dentistry as well as organizes and participates in dental outreach activities throughout the state of Florida. She received her Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from the University of Pennsylvania, her Master of Public Health degree from the University of Florida, and her undergraduate degree in sociology from Tulane University. In addition to her full-time teaching she is also pursuing a Master of Healthcare Administration and specialty training in Dental Public Health, both of which she will complete next summer.
Kimberly has always worked in the public health and community service arena. Prior to dental school, she served in the Peace Corps, working to save the lives of starving and malnourished children in Niger, West Africa. She managed to decrease starvation rates in her village by three times that of other villages. In addition to combating starvation, she also focused on issues of family planning and AIDS education, and inspired women to seek educational opportunities for themselves and their children.
After the Peace Corps, she attended the University of Pennsylvania College of Dental Medicine and graduated with Clinical Honors in 1997. Both her service missions and research have focused on public health and children. Her past NIH-funded research has included Preventive Dentistry for the Newborn and Cranio-Facial Development of Children with Osteogenesis Imperfecta. Her present research focus is directed towards the link between periodontal disease and pre-term birth, while her service activities focus on improving access to care for all underserved patients. Her most recent community service projects have included the Gadsden County Oral Health Improvement Program, Give Kids a Smile, and work with a County Health Department to construct an oral health protocol for expectant mothers. She has been a speaker at the Florida March of Dimes Pre-maturity Conference addressing the connection between periodontal disease and preterm birth.
Her goal, which drives all that she has accomplished and hopes to accomplish in the future, is to bridge that gap of dental inequity. Kimberly attributes her motivation and compassion to the professionals who have mentored her, professors who have taught her, and most significantly to her parents, who instilled in her a sense of community service. She is married to Dr. Matthew Rudolph, and they have three children. The family resides in Gainesville, FL.