Release Date: January 20, 2023
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Award-winning fashion photographer Rick Guidotti will visit the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine to promote the beauty of human diversity and the use of more inclusive imagery in medical education, as well as to provide professional photoshoots for children and youth with disabilities in Western New York.
NBC’s “The Voice” finalist and Lockport native Joshua Vacanti will also perform music at the event with his wife, Sam Olewnik.
Guidotti is the founder of POSITIVE EXPOSURE, a nonprofit dedicated to building a more inclusive world through photography, film, exhibitions, lectures and educational programs. The charitable program has partnered with hospitals, medical schools and educational institutions around the world to reframe patient depictions in medical education.
Guidotti will visit UB from Jan. 20-21 to meet with various UB dental, medical and health sciences faculty, staff and students. The photography sessions will occur on Jan. 21.
When: Saturday, Jan. 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Vacanti and Olewnik will perform from 11-11:30 a.m.
Where: UB Department of Pediatric and Community Dentistry at 1091 Main St., Buffalo, 2nd floor.
What: Guidotti will gift professional photography to local children with disabilities. The clinic will also be filled with arts, crafts and educational activities for children. Vacanti and Olewnik will perform a range of songs for attendees.
Media are invited to attend.
“Rick Guidotti brings to Buffalo the opportunity to showcase how much we care for inclusivity within our own community. His work is featured in the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry’s journal HELEN as an effective teaching tool in medical schools and elsewhere,” says Meelin D. Chin Kit-Wells, DDS, clinical assistant professor of pediatric and community dentistry at the UB School of Dental Medicine, POSITIVE EXPOSURE board member and American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry president-elect.
“With his visit, we can teach inclusivity by action. With grace, we can celebrate each person for who they are,” she says.
Commitment to inclusive oral health care
The UB School of Dental Medicine provides holistic oral health care to patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities in supportive, caring and respectful environments. In addition to hosting comprehensive outreach programs, such as their annual Give Kids A Smile Day, the UB Department of Pediatric and Community Dentistry is optimizing care for patients with disabilities by collaborating with occupational therapists to house the professions under one roof.
The school is investing $1 million into a new space devoted to patients with disabilities in its Squire Hall dental clinic on the South Campus. The clinic will feature specialty equipment for patients in wheelchairs, with autism or who are medically complex, as well as tilt platforms, bariatric chairs, oversized doors and seating for caregivers.
The UB School of Dental Medicine has also entered into a partnership with Arc GLOW to provide dental care to patients with disabilities in Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties through its S-Miles To Go program, which operates through two state-of-the-art mobile dental vans.
Marcene Robinson is a former staff writer in University Communications. To contact UB's media relations staff, email ub-news@buffalo.edu or visit our list of current university media contacts.
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