Dr. Nyla Balakrishnan is an Assistant Professor and Program Director for the clinical community outreach program SCOPE II at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine Department of Dental Public Health. Dr. Balakrishnan is actively involved in teaching predoctoral students and is the director of several didactic courses. She also works with the Certificate in Dental Public Health program. In addition to classroom teaching, she serves as faculty and thesis advisor for DMD/MPH dual degree program students. Dr. Balakrishnan also coordinates the school's participation in various community outreach events and free dental camps.
Dr. Balakrishnan serves on the ad-hoc admission committee at the school and is the faculty advisor for the student club South Asian Student Society. On a state level, she serves on the Internal Operations Committee with the Pennsylvania Coalition of Oral Health. She has held officer positions with the American Dental Education Association.
Dr. Balakrishnan's interests include addressing oral health disparities in the underserved populations including access to care and oral health workforce issues.