Kathryn Atchison is a Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Mangagement at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and Community Dentistry in the UCLA School of Dentistry and in the Department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. She received her D.D.S. at Marquette University School of Dentistry in 1978 and her M.P.H. at Boston University School of Public Health in 1982. Dr. Atchison was selected among a nationwide competition to participate in the Robert Wood Johnson Dental Health Services Research Fellowship at UCLA (1984-86) and joined UCLA's faculty in 1987. She was chosen by the MultiCampus Program in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology to participate in the Bureau of Health Professions Mid-Career Fellowship in Geriatric Medicine and Dentistry (1991). 2003 Dr. Atchison was a Department of Health and Human Services, Primary Health Care Policy Fellow.
Dr. Atchison has had substantial experience conducting and leading collaborative multidisciplinary research. She has published extensively on outcomes assessment and quality of care issues, such as perceptions of oral health and development and evaluation of psychosocial outcome measures, for which she developed the Geriatric/ General Oral Health Assessment Index. Dr. Atchison serves as UCLA's Interim Vice Provost for Intellectual Property and Industry Relations. Her past administrative experience include over four years as Associate Dean for Research & Knowledge Management for the School of Dentistry. Dr. Atchison chairs the fourth year dental course clinical Applications of Quality Assurance and teaches in the Research Ethics course for Health Policy and Management.