Speaker: 

Allison Breininger, BA, MA, Founder & Executive Director of The Negative Space.

Co-host of the In Sickness Podcast

Allison Breininger,  BA, MA, Founder and Executive Director of The Negative Space, has an extensive professional background as a trainer, coach, content developer and facilitator. A caregiver for her husband since 2010, she has experienced firsthand that caregivers are in the negative space: vital yet overlooked and unsupported.

Fueled by what she saw, Allison created The Negative Space to use her experience and skills to change the way caregivers are seen and supported. Through The Negative Space, she shines light on the realities of caregiving, provides direct services to caregivers and educates and equips those who support them with concrete tools and strategies. She couples her professional background with her personal journey as a caregiver to bring audiences into the negative space, painting for them a vivid picture of the realities of caregiving.

Speakers: 

Stephen K. Shuman, DDS, MS, FGSA, FICDStephen K. Shuman, DDS, MS, FGSA, FICD

Dr. Prasida Khana, BDS, MPH

Dr. Steve Shuman received his dental degree from Temple University and completed his Fellowship and MS degree in Geriatric Dentistry from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry.  He joined Minnesota’s faculty in 1989 and is now Professor and Director of the school’s Oral Health Services for Older Adults Program as well as Director of the Division of Hospital & Special Care Dentistry. 

He also serves on the faculty for the school’s Special Healthcare Needs Clinic and the University’s HRSA-funded Northstar Geriatrics Workforce Expansion Program.  Dr. Shuman served on the Board of Directors of the American Society for Geriatric Dentistry for 10 years and was President of that organization from 1998-99.  

He currently serves as Chair of the Oral Health Workgroup for the Gerontological Society of America and Chair of the Minnesota Dental Association’s Barriers to Care Committee.  His teaching and clinical programs have been recognized nationally as well as at the state and local levels, including the American Dental Association’s national Geriatric Oral Health Award and the National Innovation Award from LeadingAge, the national association of over 6000 non-profits representing the entire field of aging services. 

He is a Fellow of the International College of Dentists and only the 8th dental professional inducted as a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.

Dr. Prasida Khanal earned her dental degree in Nepal and followed by an MPH here.  She is also a graduate of Minnesota’s Executive Senior Leadership Institute, offered in collaboration between the Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) and the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and has completed a Certificate in Project Management here at UMN, as well as the American Institute of Dental Public Health’s Dental Public Health Leadership Academy and a Fellowship in Oral Health Policy and Delivery from the Center for Health Care Strategies. 

Dr. Khanal is currently State Oral Health Director at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), as well as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Division of Dental Public Health at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. 

She is also currently the PI of the MDH’s HRSA-funded Grant to States to Support Oral Health Workforce Activities that is focused on promoting age-friendly dental care here in Minnesota