Natalia I. Chalmers, D.D.S., M.H.Sc., Ph.D.
Dr. Chalmers is a board-certified pediatric dentist, oral health policy expert and public health advocate who brings more than 20 years of clinical, research, industry and regulatory experience to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in her role as Chief Dental Officer in the Office of the Administrator. Previously, Dr. Chalmers served as a Dental Officer at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Dr. Chalmers has devoted her career to transforming scientific and health care data and information into actionable insights to address equity, improve care and better inform policy and funding. She completed her D.D.S. degree at the Faculty of Dental Medicine of the Medical University of Sofia, a residency in pediatric dentistry at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, a Ph.D. in oral microbiology from the Graduate Partnerships Program of the University of Maryland School of Dentistry and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), a postdoctoral fellowship at the Forsyth Institute, and a clinical research fellowship at the NIDCR.
Dr. Chalmers holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Research from Duke Medical University and a Certificate in Drug Development and Regulatory Science from the University of California, San Francisco, School of Pharmacy. Her research has translated into action, improving oral care and advocating for the role health policy can play across the lifespan—particularly when it embraces dental well-being as a facet of care for the whole person.