Elsbeth Kalenderian, DDS, MPH '89

Dr. Kalenderian is a healthcare executive with 20+ years experience in the healthcare, human services and public health field. An oral surgeon by training, she started her healthcare management career, after obtaining her master’s degree from the Harvard School of Public Health, as the Administrator for Children’s Hospital Boston’s long-term care facility. From there she moved to the Partners Healthcare System (Boston) in various senior management roles at North Shore Medical Center (NSMC).  As Vice President for Case Management and Vice President for Patient Care Services she was intimately involved in the management of the cardiac department and cardiac patient. She was instrumental in writing the proposal that secured NSMC’s approval for the open-heart program and developed the implementation plan. She served on Partners’ outpatient ethics committee and re-established the inpatient ethics committee at NSMC. In 2002, looking for a change from the hospital environment, Dr. Kalenderian became the EVP of a human services organization in Cambridge, MA, which succeeded in its mission to providing long lasting solutions to victims of domestic violence through an effective partnership with an extensive group of volunteers.

In July 2004 Dr. Kalenderian became the Vice President for Quality Improvement Initiatives at the American Heart Association (AHA) in the northeast affiliate (Framingham, MA). In this role she was responsible for the implementation of the “Get with the Guidelines” program, a hospital-based, concurrent case management program focusing on standardizing secondary prevention care measures for all stroke and cardiovascular patients throughout the northeast region. In December 2005 she became the Sr. Vice President for Health Strategies for AHA’s Heritage affiliate in New York City. In this role, she was responsible for the Quality Improvement, Communications & Marketing, Advocacy, Cause, State Health Alliances, and Cultural Health and Health Disparities Initiatives Departments covering the  NYC, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut markets. In October 2007 Dr. Kalenderian was appointed Assistant Dean for Clinical Affairs and Instructor in Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. She is responsible for the overall management of the dental practice, facilitates bridging basic and translational research with clinical research in patient care delivery and as a member of the faculty participates in the educational efforts of the school. In 2008 she was appointed Interim Chair for the Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology Department. She is actively involved in the conversion of the Harvard Dental Center’s Practices to an electronic health record utilizing AxiUm software.

Dr. Kalenderian has been involved with the HSPH Alumni Council since 2001. She received a Fulbright Scholarship in 1983.