About DANB

Chair: Lois Bell

Lois Bell, CDA, CPFDA, CRFDA, CDIPC, MADAA, was elected to DANB’s Board of Directors in August 2016 and is serving her second three-year term. DANB’s Board elected Ms. Bell from a slate of qualified nominees provided by the American Dental Assistants Association (ADAA).

Ms. Bell retired in August 2021 from dental assisting after being a practicing dental assistant for over 40 years. During her career, she worked in a variety of settings, including both large and small private practices, as well as in clinics for the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs. Ms. Bell earned DANB Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) certification in 2003, followed by DANB Certified Preventive Functions Dental Assistant (CPFDA) in 2010 and DANB Certified Restorative Functions Dental Assistant (CRFDA) certification in 2013. In December 2021, she earned Certified in Dental Infection Prevention and Control (CDIPC) certification, developed by DANB in collaboration with the Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention. Most recently, Ms. Bell worked as a dental assistant at the VA Greenville Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Greenville, South Carolina.

In addition to her chairside dental assisting work, Ms. Bell has been an active member of the ADAA at state and national levels since 1996. She served as ADAA secretary from 2012 to 2013, and is currently serving on the ADAA’s Council on Education and Council on Mastership/Fellowship.

She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Department of Veterans Affairs Hands and Heart award and the Unsung Hero award, as well as multiple awards from the South Carolina Dental Assistants Association.

Vice Chair: Steven J. Holm

Steven J. Holm, D.D.S., of Portage, Indiana, was elected to DANB’s Board of Directors in August 2017 and is serving his second three-year term. DANB’s Board selected Dr. Holm from a slate of qualified nominees provided by the American Dental Association (ADA).

Dr. Holm has been a general dentistry practitioner and an adjunct faculty member at Indiana University Northwest for more than 30 years. Since 1998, he has served as a delegate to the ADA House of Delegates, as well as a member of ADA’s Council on Access, Prevention and Interprofessional Relations (CAPIR) Council–7th District and Council on Dental Education and Licensure. Since 2013, he has served as a member of ADA’s Licensure Task Force.

Dr. Holm is a Fellow in the Pierre Fauchard Academy, American College of Dentists and International College of Dentists. He’s also active in the Indiana Dental Association (IDA), where he has held many leadership roles, including currently serving as the chair of government affairs. From 2014-2015, he served as president of IDA and in 2015 was recognized for his outstanding service.

In addition, Dr. Holm is active in the Academy of General Dentistry, Chicago Dental Society, Delta Sigma Delta Dental Fraternity, Northwest Indiana Dental Society and Porter County Dental Society.

Dr. Holm is a graduate of the University of South Dakota and Loyola University School of Dentistry.

Secretary-Treasurer: Constance Reed

Constance “Connie” Reed, CDA, EFDA, B.S., began serving on DANB’s Board of Directors in August 2017. She was elected from a slate of qualified nominees provided by the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) and is serving her second three-year term.

Ms. Reed, of Tampa, Florida, is the manager of the dental assistant program at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Florida. She has been a Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) certificant since 1984.

Ms. Reed has been a member of the ADEA since 2001, and since 2013, she has served as chair of the ADEA’s Dental Assisting Education Section. She is also a member of the Florida Allied Dental Educators, where she has held the positions of president and secretary. In addition, Ms. Reed is a consultant with the West Coast District Dental Association Scholarship Committee and has served on the boards of the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, Florida Dental Health Foundation and Big Bend Area Health Education Center.

Since 2013, Ms. Reed also has served on the Florida Board of Dentistry’s Dental Assisting Committee, and she has served as a site visitor for the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation for nine years.

Ms. Reed worked for 12 years at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Florida, as both dental assisting outreach coordinator and a dental assisting adjunct instructor. She served as interim director of dental programs at the University of Florida College of Dentistry and Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida, and she has worked for nearly 17 years at Hillsborough Community College.

Prior to her experiences in education, Ms. Reed worked for 12 years as a dental assistant in Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts and Missouri. She has received honors from the Association of Florida Colleges (formerly the Florida Association of Community Colleges [FACC]), including the Excellence Award of FACC Curriculum of Instruction. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in vocational education in 1991 from University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida.

Frank Maggio

Frank Maggio, D.D.S., was elected to DANB’s Board of Directors in August 2021 and is serving the first of a possible two three-year terms. DANB’s Board selected Dr. Maggio from among qualified nominees provided by the American Association of Dental Boards (AADB).

Dr. Maggio is a periodontist with a practice in Elgin, Illinois; he is also a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois (UIC) Chicago College of Dentistry, Department of Periodontics. Additionally, Dr. Maggio currently serves on the UIC Dental Alumni Board of Directors, formerly serving as its Past President, and is a dental assisting faculty member at Elgin Community College.

Dr. Maggio has been a member of the ADA since 1971, and has served on numerous ADA committees, councils and task forces. He was an ADA Foundation Board member and was Chairman of the ADA Council on Dental Education and Licensure, along with being an ADA Trustee. He also has been President of the Illinois State Dental Society, Fox River Valley Dental Society and McHenry County Dental Society.

Beyond this, Dr. Maggio’s professional affiliations include involvement in the Omicron Kappa Upsilon (OKU) Dental Honor Society. He also is a Fellow in the American College of Dentists, International College of Dentists, Pierre Fauchard Academy, and Odontographic Society of Chicago; and he recently served as Immediate Past President of the Board of Trustees for the DALE Foundation, the official DANB affiliate.

Additionally, Dr. Maggio is an active member of the AADB, American Dental Education Association and American Academy of Periodontology. Among other activities, he is Chairman of the Dental Lifeline Network and a former Board member of the Illinois Board of Professional Regulation.

Dr. Maggio graduated from Loyola University School of Dentistry with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree; after completing military service in the U.S. Army, he earned his Certificate in Periodontics from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry.

Meagan Mitchell

Meagan Mitchell, CDA, B.S., was elected to DANB’s Board of Directors in August 2018, and is serving the second of a possible two three-year terms. DANB’s Board elected Ms. Mitchell from a slate of qualified nominees provided by the American Dental Assistants Association (ADAA).

Ms. Mitchell currently works as a surgical dental assistant with Oral Surgery Group in Evansville, Indiana, where she has been employed since 2014.

Ms. Mitchell is a past president of the Evansville Dental Assistants Society and the Indiana Dental Assistants Association. Previously, from 2016-2017, she served as president-elect for these organizations; she also served as the Evansville Dental Assistants Society’s vice president from 2015-2016.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southern Indiana (USI). In 2015, Ms. Mitchell graduated from USI with an associate degree with a focus on dental assisting. Also in 2015, she earned DANB’s Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) certification.

Ms. Mitchell is qualified in Indiana to perform coronal polishing and expanded functions, and she successfully completed the Dental Anesthesia Assistant National Certification Examination offered through the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.

Barbara Mousel

Barbara Mousel, D.D.S., CDA, RDH, of Chicago, was elected to DANB’s Board of Directors in August 2022 and is serving her first three-year term. DANB’s Board selected Dr. Mousel from a slate of qualified nominees provided by the American Dental Association (ADA). Dr. Mousel has owned a private practice in general dentistry since 1984. Dr. Mousel also worked as an educator at the Sanford-Brown College Dental Hygiene program from 2013-2014 and previously has held the roles of dental hygienist and dental assistant.

Dr. Mousel earned Fellowship in the Academy of General Dentistry, and holds Fellowship in the International College of Dentists, Academy of Dentistry International, American College of Dentists, and Pierre Fauchard Academy. She is a member of the ADA and currently serves on the Council on Dental Education and Licensure and the Dental Education Committee. Dr. Mousel is a past president of the Illinois State Dental Society, American Association of Women Dentists (AAWD), Central Regional Dental Testing Service, and Chicago Dental Society Foundation, among other professional affiliations. In her career, Dr. Mousel has received numerous awards, including the 2000 Lucy Hobbs Taylor Award from the AAWD.

Dr. Mousel earned a Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1984 from Loyola University School of Dentistry and a Bachelor of Science in dental hygiene in 1979 from Loyola University of Chicago. She graduated in 1975 from City Colleges of Chicago with an associate of arts degree, with highest honors, and has held DANB’s Certified Dental Assistant certification since 1975.

Kimberly Plate

Kimberly Plate, CDA, CPFDA, CRFDA, B.S., was elected to DANB’s Board of Directors in August 2021 and is serving the first of a possible two three-year terms. DANB’s Board elected Ms. Plate from among qualified nominees provided by the American Dental Assistants Association (ADAA).

Ms. Plate, of Pingree Grove, Illinois, currently works as director of the dental assisting program at Elgin Community College (ECC). Ms. Plate previously worked as an ECC adjunct dental assisting faculty member from 1998 until assuming her director role there in 2004.

Additionally, Ms. Plate serves as an Accreditation Site Visitor/Consultant for the Commission on Dental Accreditation. She has nearly 40 years of dental assisting experience, specifically with working chairside, coordinating office infection prevention and control, and cross-training to fulfill office-management duties.

A longtime DANB certificant and ADAA member, Ms. Plate currently serves as a board member of the Illinois Dental Assistants Association, having previously served as its president-elect and past president. She has provided instrument sterilization oversight at past Illinois State Dental Society Mission of Mercy (MOM) dental events, and has held past roles as executive director, secretary, and treasurer of a local Lutheran church in Elgin, Illinois. She currently sits on the advisory committee of both the Visiting Nurse Association and Well Child Center in Elgin, and has volunteered with MOM, Cub Scouts, and school parent-teacher associations.

Ms. Plate holds a Bachelor of Science degree in healthcare leadership from National Louis University, plus an Associate of Arts degree as well as a vocational certificate in Clinical Dental Assisting from ECC.

Robynn Rixse

Robynn Rixse, CDA, CDIPC, MADAA, FAADOM, EFDA, B.S., of Thornton, Colorado, was elected to DANB’s Board of Directors in August 2022 and is serving her first three-year term. DANB’s Board elected Ms. Rixse from a slate of qualified nominees provided by the American Dental Assistants Association (ADAA). Ms. Rixse currently works as Practice Administrator for Precision Oral Surgery in Thornton, Colorado. In her more than 30 years as a dental assisting professional, she has held clinical and administrative positions in both the nonprofit and private sectors.

Ms. Rixse has been a member of the ADAA since 2005. She served as ADAA president from 2019–2020 and immediate past president from 2020–2021. She holds ADAA Fellowship and Mastership and in 2012 received the ADAA’s President’s Award of Excellence. She also has held leadership positions with the Professional Dental Assistants Education Foundation, the Pennsylvania Dental Assistants Association, and the Lancaster County Dental Assistants Society. Ms. Rixse is a member of the American Association of Dental Office Management (AADOM) and was inducted as an AADOM Fellow in September 2021. Among other professional affiliations, Ms. Rixse is an international member of the Society of British Dental Nurses (SBDN) and serves on the SBDN board as their international representative.

A passionate advocate for continued learning, Ms. Rixse earned DANB’s Certified in Dental Infection Prevention and Control (CDIPC) certification in 2021, and she has held CDA certification since 2011. In 2011, she also passed the Pennsylvania Expanded Functions Dental Assistant exam. She graduated summa cum laude in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration from Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania.

Janée Tamayo

Janée Tamayo, CDA, CPFDA, B.S., MSgt, USAF was elected to DANB’s Board of Directors in August 2021 as the Certificant-at-Large. She is serving the first of a possible two three-year terms.

Ms. Tamayo, of Honolulu, Hawaii, has worked as a dental assistant with the U.S. Air Force for nearly 10 years. She has worked as an Air Force dental assistant in Tampa, Florida; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Fayetteville, North Carolina. Her roles have included Dental Flight Chief at Schriever Dental Clinic at Schriever Air Force Base (with responsibilities including managing the daily clinical operations and logistics), Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge of Records and Reception, Clinical Flight Chief, Executive Assistant to the Commander of the 21st Medical Group, and Dental Technician.

Ms. Tamayo earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in dental assisting from the Community College of the Air Force, and a Bachelor of Science degree in sports and exercise science from American Military University. She is currently working toward a Master of Public Administration from American Military University.

She also has received extensive professional recognition. In August 2020, Ms. Tamayo earned the Humanitarian Service Medal from the 21st Medical Squadron. She also has received the Distinguished Graduate and Academic Achievement Award from the Vosler Non-Commissioned Officer Academy (2019) and the Distinguished Graduate and Commandant’s Leadership Award from Peterson Airman Leadership School (2015).

Additionally, in 2014, Ms. Tamayo was named Dental Airman of the Year by Air Force Dental Service, and in 2013, Airman of the Year by the 21st Space Wing.

Laura Skarnulis

Ms. Skarnulis became the Chief Executive Officer of DANB and the DALE Foundation on Aug. 16, 2021.

Ms. Skarnulis came to DANB and the DALE Foundation after serving for more than eight years as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), an organization that establishes the certification and continuing certification standards for its 24 Member Boards, certifying more than 920,000 physicians in one or more of the 40 specialties and 87 subspecialties offered.

As ABMS COO, Ms. Skarnulis was responsible for the oversight of the organization’s information technology services and database management system, marketing and communications, finance and audit, as well as new product development and international programs. Under her leadership, ABMS successfully created and launched an innovative longitudinal assessment platform that both transformed the user experience and delivered exceptional customer satisfaction. Ms. Skarnulis also created ABMS’s first Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative focused on addressing systemic biases driving inequities of healthcare delivery, while concurrently serving as the leader of the organization’s pandemic response to COVID-19 ensuring the safety and well-being of staff while continuing to meet key strategic objectives and milestones.

Prior to her tenure at ABMS, Ms. Skarnulis served as Chief Operating and Financial Officer for the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. She joined United Way after more than nine years as the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration for the Arena Football League and its affiliate af2.