Dr. Brian Swann graduated from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), School of Dentistry. After a 30-year career in public health and private practice, he realized his greater impact would be made in community dentistry and public health policy. He attended Harvard University, where he was the first Joseph L. Henry Fellow in Minority Health Policy. By 2008, he had received three certificates from Harvard- Minority Health Policy (Harvard Medical School), Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology (Harvard School of Dental Medicine) and a master’s in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Dr. Swann is the Chief Emeritus of Oral Health for the Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), where he practiced clinical dentistry and conducted the Oral Physician Program within the General Practice Residency, a model that integrates and builds capacity between oral health, primary care, behavioral health, nursing, and pharmacy. He was actively involved in acquiring $4.5 million for a multidisciplinary expansion. As a previous Assistant Professor of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology at Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) he serves as a mentor, a member of the Dean's Search Committee, Strategic Planning Committee and Admissions Committee.
Dr. Swann currently co-chairs the National Dental Association’s Global Oral Outreach Committee and is on the Board of Directors of Remote Area Medicine (RAM). In 2024, he was invited by Senator Bernie Sanders to testify about the dental health crisis in rural America and spoke about the collaboration between the NDA and RAM. Internationally, he has volunteered treating populations in Jamaica, Haiti, East and South Africa, Lebanon and Greece; and has lectured in the U.S., Spain, Uganda, Rwanda and Greece.
He has received several awards for his ongoing commitment to community service and global outreach. Most notably, in 2005, the UCSF Dental Alumni Association Medal of Honor; in 2008, from the Harvard School of Public Health, the Albert Schweitzer Award; in 2018, from HMS and HSDM, the Dean’s Community Service Faculty Award; and most recently the Alumni of the Year from Pacific University, Oregon.
