Diana V. Messadi DDS, MMSc, DMSc

Diana Messadi, D.D.S., M.M.Sc., D.M.Sc. is a professor and Chair of the Section of Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, and Orofacial Pain at the UCLA School of Dentistry. She previously served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Dr. Messadi received her Bachelor of Dental Surgery (B.D.S., D.D.S), in 1979 from the Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University, Egypt. From 1979-1980 she was a Dental Intern at Alexandria University Faculty of Dentistry. In 1980, she was appointed as a Lecturer in the Oral Pathology Department at Alexandria University Faculty of Dentistry. In 1982 she traveled to the USA to pursue her postdoctoral training; she obtained a Master of Medical Sciences, (MMSc) (1985) from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and a Certificate in Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine (1985) from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. And a Doctorate of Medical Sciences in Oral Biology, (DMSc) in 1987, also from Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Her Doctorate thesis won the HSDM James Shaw Award for the most outstanding thesis in the biomedical sciences submitted that year. From 1987-1989, she went back to Egypt and was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Oral Pathology at the Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University. In 1989 she came back to the USA with her husband and she started working at UCLA School of Dentistry. She served as Chair of the Section of Oral Medicine and Orofacial Pain from 2002-2018, she also served as Associate Dean for Education and Faculty Development from 2015-2018. She is currently Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. From 2009-2010 she participated in the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Fellowship. From 2015-2017 she participated in a Medical Education Fellowship at  UCLA School of Medicine and earned a certificate in 2017.

As a dentist-scientist, Dr. Messadi’s approach to teaching has always focused on bridging the biomedical sciences with the clinical sciences.  Her major teaching responsibilities are in the fields of oral medicine and oral oncology. She has been actively involved in didactic and clinical teaching for both pre-doctoral and post-doctoral students, she chairs several courses in the “Oral and Systemic Diseases Track” which integrate biomedical and dental sciences in areas of disease diagnosis and management.