Nashville Area Indian Health Service 2011 Annual Report

EXECUTIVE STAFF BIOS
Timothy L. Ricks, DMD, MPH (CAPT, USPHS) currently serves as the Director
of the Office of Public Health (OPH) and Area Dental Officer for the Nashville
Area Indian Health Service (IHS), as the National IHS Dental Public Health
Consultant Co-Chair of the IHS Early Childhood Caries Collaborative, and
Coordinator of the 2011 – 2020 IHS Oral Surveillance Program. He received a BS
from Delta State University in 2002, his DMD from the University of Mississippi
in 1995, an MPH from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2003 and completed his
Dental Public Health Residency in 2006.
Prior to his current position, Dr. Ricks served as the Acting Nashville Area Deputy
Director (May, 2010 – August, 2011), service unit dental chief (2004 – 2006), as a
service unit clinical director (2006), as an assistant health director (2004– 2006),
as a solo dentist for the IHS in Nevada (1999 – 2004), and in private practice
in Mississippi (1995 – 1999). He is the past chair of the U.S. Public Health
Service Dental Professional Advisory Committee, past chair of the PAC Chairs
Group, and the recipient of 17 U.S. Public Health Service honor awards, two
Area Director Awards (Phoenix Area and Nashville Area), the IHS Director’s
Award, the Commissioned Officers Association 2000 J.D. Lane Research Award,
the 2002 USPHS Dental Category Ernest Eugene Buell Award, the 2007 USPHS
Dental Category Ruth Lashley Award, the IHS Clinical Excellence Award (2000,
2001, 2003, 2006) and the IHS Oral Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Award
(1999, 2001, 2003).
Captain Tim Ricks, DMD, MPH
Acting Deputy Area Director
May 2010 – August 2011
Dr. Ricks began his career as a dentist in the IHS with the Pyramid Lake Paiute
Tribe in Nixon, Nevada, and received an Exceptional Proficiency Promotion
in 2010. While in Nevada, Dr. Ricks served on the state oral health advisory
committee and helped lead a state bioterrorism preparedness task force. Dr. Ricks
was also deployed to Florida and Mississippi for Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.
Currently, he is the Principal Investigator of a longitudinal study measuring the
effectiveness of water fluoridation in a Native American population. Prior to his
entry into the IHS, Dr. Ricks served in the Army National Guard with a deployment
to Panama and serving as a battalion assistant intelligence/counter-intelligence
officer, vulnerability assessment officer, military police investigations officer,
platoon leader, training officer, and nuclear, biological, and chemical officer.
92 www.ihs.gov/Nashville Nashville Area Indian Health Service