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Chief of Dentistry
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Dr. Martha Wells graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Emory University and earned her dental degree from the Dental College of Georgia, where she was inducted into Omicron Kappa Upsilon. She completed her MS and Certificate in Pediatric Dentistry at The Ohio State University. After private practice, she joined the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), where she served for 8 years as Director of the Pediatric Dentistry Residency Program. She lectured in both predoctoral and graduate programs, led continuing education courses, and advised numerous resident research projects, resulting in multiple publications and her selection as a UTHSC Outstanding Mentor.
She has received multiple teaching awards, the AAPD’s Lewis A. Kay Excellence in Education Award, and was named UTHSC’s first Distinguished Endowed Professor in Pediatric Dentistry. In 2022, she became Chief of Dentistry at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Dr. Wells has authored five textbook chapters and co-edited the sixth edition of Pediatric Dentistry: Infancy through Adolescence. She serves on the AAPD editorial board and as a peer reviewer for several journals, and has been a member of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry’s Qualifying Examination Committee. For the AAPD, she chairs the Annual Session Scientific Program and contributed to its first evidence-based behavior guidance guidelines.