Planning Committee

2023-2024 Annual Meeting Planning Committee

The committee begins planning the AAE annual meeting 18 months in advance via two face-to-face meetings: one in the host city and another in Chicago. The committee identifies and develops a high-quality educational program along with social activities specifically designed for AAE members and guests attending the annual meeting.

Planning Committee

		Keith V. Krell, D.D.S., M.S., M.A. AAE24 General Chair Dr. Keith Krell has been an endodontist for 43 years and served in the United States Army National Guard as a lieutenant colonel for 22 years before retiring in 1993. He was a full-time educator for eight years at the University of Iowa and was in private practice in West Des Moines, Iowa, for 29 years until he retired. He is still an adjunct clinical professor in the Department of Endodontics at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry. He is a past president of the AAE, and past president of the ABE and Foundation for Endodontics. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics and is a Fellow in the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists. He has been on several committees throughout his past 43 years and is presently the General Chair for AAE24. Dr. Krell has been married for over 52 years to Diane and they have two grown children, Rayda and Nathan, and five grandchildren. He still has research interests in cracked teeth and vertical root fractures and has provided continuing education nationally and internationally for the past 40 years. He has played guitar for more than 50 years and has collected guitars for the past 30 years.

		Kimberly A.D. Lindquist, D.D.S., M.S.D. AAE24 Program Chair Dr. Kimberly Lindquist received her dental degree from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry in 1992. She completed a general practice residency at the Veteran's Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis in 1993. After 10 years of practicing general dentistry, she completed graduate endodontic training at Case Western Reserve University. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics and a Fellow of the American College of Dentists and International College of Dentists. She has been active with the AAE since residency, including serving on several committees as well as chairing the Resident and New Practitioner Committee and Corporate Relations Committee. She served as president of the Minnesota Association of Endodontists. She completed a three-year term on the AAE Board of Directors representing District 6. Outside of endodontics, Dr. Lindquist is actively involved in her local and state dental associations. She is a full-time endodontic practitioner in Duluth, Minn.

		Mark B. Desrosiers, D.M.D. AAE24 Vice Program Chair Dr. Mark Desrosiers graduated from Penn Dental in 1984. After graduation he served three years in the Navy, then one year as an associate before purchasing a general, dental practice. After 20 years as a general dentist, he sold his practice and then completed a two-year endodontic certificate program at Boston University. He was an associate and then partner in a four-doctor endodontic group until February 2018 when he sold his share of the partnership to semi-retire. Now working one day per week and teaching one day per week, he is enjoying the slower pace of semi-retirement. In his free time Dr. Desrosiers enjoys traveling with his wife, visiting his grown children, and granddaughters, swimming, sailing, hiking, and scuba diving. He serves on the Annual Meeting Planning Committee and the AAE Board of Directors.

		Antonio Berto, D.D.S. Co-Workshop Chair Dr. Antonio Berto completed his dental training in Madrid, Spain, where he received a Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree in 2005. In 2006, Dr. Berto became a Fellow in the Department of Endodontics Texas A&M Health Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry and continued his studies there, earning a Certificate in Endodontics, also serving as the director of endodontics at the Advanced Education in General Dentistry program and as an associate clinical professor for the Department of Endodontics. Dr. Berto has published multiple articles, lectured at local, national and international meetings, served as president of the Dallas Forth Worth Metroplex Endodontic Association and the North Texas Hispanic Dental Association, and is on the Board of Directors of the Dallas County Dental Society. A Fellow of the International College of Dentists, Dr. Berto is in full-time private practice at Ayik-Berto Dental Specialists in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan area.

		Mary Um, D.M.D. Co-Workshop Chair Dr. Mary Um is the owner and lead clinician for the Ivy Endodontic Group in Irvine and Garden Grove, Calif. She holds an adjunct assistant professor position in the Department Endodontics and Periodontics in the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on buccal plate thickness and endodontic microsurgery success, and she was recently published in the Journal of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology. Dr. Um is an active member in the AAE and the California State Association of Endodontists. Dr. Um has served on the AAE Professional and Public Relations Committee, the Continuing Education Committee, and as the Co-Chair of the Surgical Workshop. She is currently a member of the Annual Meeting Planning Committee. Dr. Um received the Health Professional Scholarship from the United States Air Force and was in active duty in Idaho, Texas, and deployed to Qatar, after which she was honorably discharged. Dr. Um earned her doctorate of dental science from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine in 2010. She completed her endodontic residency training and a Masters in Oral Science at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry 2018. Dr. Um has been in private practice and has served as a clinical associate professor at the University of Illinois College of Dentistry and at Northshore University Healthsystem Evanston Hospital General Dentistry Residency program.

		Garry L. Myers, D.D.S. Immediate Past General Chair Dr. Garry Myers currently serves as the graduate endodontic program director at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va. He completed his dental school education at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio in 1985. Six years later, he completed his endodontic residency program at Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. He became a Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics in 1994. After serving on active duty for 13 years, Dr. Myers left the U.S. Air Force in 1998 to enter full-time private practice in Olympia, Wash., where he practiced for the next 16 years. Dr. Myers has been active in organized dentistry, having served as the president of the Washington State Association of Endodontists in 2006-07 and as the President of the AAE in 2017-18. He has spoken internationally at meetings in Japan, South Korea, San Diego and Guatemala. Dr. Myers currently serves as a CODA Commissioner as well as serving as a Director on the American Board of Endodontics.

Track Organizers

		Keith W. Tittle, D.D.S., M.S. Future of Endodontic Practice Track Co-Organizer Dr. Ken Tittle maintains a full-time private practice in endodontics with his daughter, Dr. Mia Tittle, in Pleasant Hill, Calif. He is an assistant professor of endodontics at the Arthur A. Dugoni University of the Pacific School of Dentistry and has lectured to local dental societies, the CDA, the ADA, and the AAE on various aspects of endodontics. His areas of interest are traumatic injuries, resorption, and advanced technologies to diagnose and treat endodontically involved teeth. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics, a fellow of the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists, a former director of the AAE and the Contra Costa Dental Society, and is currently Public Policy Advocate for California State Association of Endodontists. His favorite avocations all involve water.

		Lorel E. Burns, D.D.S. New Voices Track Co-Organizer Dr. Lorel Burns is a clinician-investigator and assistant professor at New York University College of Dentistry. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics. Dr. Burns earned her DDS degree at NYU College of Dentistry, completed her specialty training in Endodontics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and was awarded her master’s degree by NYU School of Medicine. In 2019, she was selected as the Foundation for Endodontics’ Endodontic Educator Fellow. In 2022, she was recognized with the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Junior Faculty Award. Dr. Burns’ research interests include endodontic treatment outcomes, access to dental care, clinician decision-making, and dental education.

		Dontra B. Scott, D.D.S. New Voices Track Co-Organizer Dr. Dontra Scott is a Board-certified Endodontist and practices at Heights Endodontics in Houston, Texas. He is originally from Columbia, Md. He attended the University of Maryland, College Park where he received a Bachelor of Science in 2006. Dr. Scott continued to pursue his education in the field of dentistry at Howard University College of Dentistry in Washington, D.C. earning a Doctorate of Dental Surgery in 2010. He moved to New York City after dental school and served as chief resident at the Bronx Lebanon Hospital (BronxCare Health System) residency program. After two years in general practice residency, he was accepted into the Advanced Education Program in Endodontics at New York University. While at NYU he was able to provide care for the diverse population of New York City and around the world. Dr. Scott participated in outreach programs with Henry Schein that afforded him the opportunity to educate and provide endodontic care for underprivileged populations in Puebla, Mexico, and Granada, Nicaragua. Dr. Scott was awarded a Specialty Certificate in Endodontics from NYU in 2014. In addition to his private practice, Dr. Scott serves as an adjunct clinical instructor for the NYU Department of Endodontics.

		Carla Y. Falcon, D.M.D., M.D.S. Non-Surgical Root Canal Therapy Track Organizer Dr. Carla Y. Falcon is an Associate Professor and the Pre-Doctoral Endodontics Program Director at Rutgers School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Falcon holds a BS in Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences from Northwestern University, and a DMD, MDS & Certificate in Endodontics from Rutgers School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Falcon is a diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics, the 2016 recipient of the Endodontic Educator Fellowship Award from AAE Foundation, and the 2021 ADEA/American Association of Endodontists Foundation Scholar in the ADEA Leadership Institute. Dr. Falcon is a current trustee of the AAE Foundation for Endodontics.

		Omar E. Abusteit, B.D.S., M.S.D. Outcomes Track Organizer Dr. Omar Abusteit was born and raised in Egypt where he earned his dental degree from Cairo University and practiced general dentistry for a few years before moving to the U.S. to pursue postgraduate studies in endodontics. He received fellowships in Endodontics from UCLA School of Dentistry and Medical University of South Carolina College of Dental Medicine. Later, he completed his endodontic specialty training and earned a Master of Science in Dentistry from the Medical University of South Carolina where he also served as the chief endodontic resident. Dr. Abusteit is a Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics and is currently serving as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Endodontics at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, and he maintains a private practice limited to endodontics in Minneapolis, Minn. He also serves as a reviewer for international endodontic journals. Dr. Abusteit is on the Continuing Education Committee of the AAE as distance learning representative and also lectured and presented on various endodontic topics in conferences, meetings, and study clubs nationally and internationally.

		Tatiana M. Botero-Duque, D.D.S., M.S. Pulp Biology Track Co-Organizer Dr. Tatiana Botero received her dental degree (DDS, 1987) from CES University in Medellin, Colombia, Specialty training in Endodontics at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia (1995) and the advanced Specialty Certificate in Endodontics from University of Michigan in 2005. She was Clinical Assistant Professor at CES University and had her private practice in Colombia (1989-2000). Dr. Botero joined the University of Michigan in 2001 and presently she is a full-time clinical professor teaching Endodontics to graduate and undergraduate students. She is the director of the dental postgraduate fellowship program in endodontics. She also practices endodontics at a private dental clinic in Michigan. In 2012 Dr. Botero became a Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics and she joined the Regenerative Endodontic Committee from the AAE since 2013 and chair 2014-2020. She is a past president of the Pulp Biology and Regeneration group of the American Association and International Association of Dental Research. Dr. Botero has authored and co-authored numerous scientific peer reviewed articles and book chapters. She serves as reviewer for several endodontic and dental journals. Her research of interest and publications are on caries-induced angiogenesis and Regenerative Endodontics.

		Kathleen Gaboardi, D.D.S., Ph.D. Pulp Biology Track Co-Organizer

		Yasaman Ravandoust, D.D.S., M.S. Surgical Root Canal Therapy Track Co-Organizer Dr. Ravandoust is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Endodontics Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry, University of the Pacific, San Fransisco, Calif., while maintaining private practice in the Bay Area. Dr. Ravandoust received her DDS and MS in Endodontics from the University of California, San Francisco and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics. She is currently a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Journal of Endodontics.

		Ahmed B. Salman, D.D.S., M.S.D. Surgical Root Canal Therapy Track Co-Organizer Dr. Ahmed Salman was born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq. His initial dental training was at the University of Baghdad where he received a Bachelor of Dental Surgery. He then completed a one-year general practice residency at Cairo University Hospital in Egypt. After a couple of years practicing as a general dentist, he decided to continue his educational journey in the United States where he obtained a second dental degree from the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine. After practicing in the Denver metro area as a general dentist his passion towards Endodontics led him to pursue a postgraduate training at the University of the Pacific Dugoni School of Dentistry in San Francisco, Calif. He received a certificate of specialty in Endodontics and a Master of Science in Dentistry. Dr. Salman is a Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics. He is currently in private practice limited to endodontics and microsurgery in Denver, Colo.