Karen Gregory, RN, CDIPC

Ms. Gregory is a nationally recognized speaker and trainer skilled in translating regulatory and compliance information into captivating educational programming for healthcare workers. She is Certified in Dental Infection Prevention and Control® (CDIPC®), serves as a subject matter expert in dental infection prevention and control, and specializes in packaging process and policy content for successful integration into practice. In fact, she recently was involved in the update of the unforgettable teaching tool, “If Saliva Were Red” and was Editor-in-Chief of the online tool, “Best Practices for Infection Control in Dental Clinics During the COVID-19 Pandemic”. She is currently on the Editorial Review Board of the popular newsletter, Infection Control in Practice.

Ms. Gregory served on the Board of Directors of the Association for Dental Safety and has been awarded all three of the organization’s top leadership awards. She volunteers for the Charlotte North Carolina Missions of Mercy in an effort to help those in need. Early in 2023, she launched her own consulting firm to “inspire frontline healthcare workers to include safety in every process”.

Kathy Eklund, RDH, MHP

Kathy Eklund is the Sr. Director of Occupational Health and Safety, and the Forsyth Research Subject & Patient Safety Advocate at The Forsyth Institute. She is adjunct faculty at Regis College, Dental Hygiene Program, teaching a senior-level course, Evidence-Based Decision Making. Ms. Eklund serves as faculty for the New England AIDS Education and Training Center and HIVdent.org. She is the Chair of the Organization for Safety Asepsis and Prevention (OSAP) Foundation Board of Directors and has been an active member of OSAP since 1985. Over the past 38 years, Ms. Eklund has published papers and contributed to several texts on infection control & safety and is an author of the CDC Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings- 2003. She has lectured nationally and internationally on these topics.

Michelle Strange, MSDH, RDH, CDIPC

Michelle Strange has more than two decades of dental expertise, beginning as a dental assistant and completing a bachelor’s degree in health science from the Medical University of South Carolina and a master’s in dental hygiene education from the University of Bridgeport. She continues to invest in ongoing education, earning the OSAP-DALE Foundation Dental Infection Prevention and Control Certificate™ and the Certified in Dental Infection Prevention and Control certification. Her community and global endeavors demonstrate her passion for dentistry, from volunteer work to worldwide missions. She is the owner of Level Up Infection Prevention, MichelleStrangeRDH, a practicing dental hygienist, and was the co-founder of A Tale of Two Hygienists podcast.