Cristin Kearns, DDS, MBA
Associate Professor
Preventive & Restor Dent Sci
School of Dentistry

Dr. Kearns is an Associate Professor at the University of California, San Francisco with a joint appointment in the Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, Division of Oral Epidemiology and Dental Public Health and the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.

Education & Training

Show all (5) Hide

• MS Sociology University of California, San Francisco 2025
• Postdoctoral Fellowship Health Policy University of California, San Francisco 09/2017
• MBA Health Administration University of Colorado, Denver 2006
• General Practice Residency Dentistry University of Colorado, Denver 1999
• DDS Dentistry University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 1998

Websites

Show all (1) Hide

• Sugar Science (sugarscience.org)

Grants and Projects

Show all (1) Hide

• Overcoming Barriers to Implementing Policies to Reduce Sugar Consumption for Dental Caries Prevention, NIH, 2020-2025

Publications (33)

Top publication keywords:
CommerceFood IndustryDental CariesOral HealthInsuranceSweetening AgentsSucroseConflict of InterestDental ResearchResearch Support as TopicBeveragesDietary SucroseSugarsDrinking WaterPublic Relations

• Decolonising Global Oral Health for Health Equity: A Scoping Review of the Global North Literature.
  Community dentistry and oral epidemiology 2026 Fathi H, Benzian H, Bedos C, Kearns C
• Corporate Vectors of Chronic Disease - Using Internal Industry Documents to Craft Counterstrategies.
  The New England journal of medicine 2026 Consortium of the Center to End Corporate Harm, University of California, San Francisco, Chartres N, Apollonio DE, Bero LA, Bialous S, Crosbie E, Hendlin YH, Hiatt RA, Kearns C, Knight KR, Ling PM, …
• Use of a Critical Constructivist, Community-Engaged Approach to Understand Commercial Determinants of Breast Cancer: The Situational Scoping Method.
  International journal of environmental research and public health 2025 Kearns CE
• Tobacco industry influence on breast cancer research, policy and public opinion: scoping the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents.
  Tobacco control 2025 Han E, Crosbie E, Ling P, Perez S, Khan H, Hiatt R, Kearns C
• Third-party Compliance With State-Mandated Orthodontic Coverage for Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Care in California: An Insurance Claim Thematic Analysis.
  The Cleft palate-craniofacial journal : official publication of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association 2022 Azizollahi R, Hubacek L, Oberoi S, Kearns C

Show all (28 more) Hide

• Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/oralhealthinamerica
  Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/oralhealthinamerica 2021 National Institutes of Health, Kearns CE (Contributing Author)
• Work site access to fluoridated tap water and retail beverages: An assessment of the University of California, San Francisco campuses.
  Journal of the American Dental Association (1939) 2021 Kalair N, Mousli LM, Jacobs LM, Schmidt L, Kearns C
• The global oral health workforce - Authors' reply.
  Lancet (London, England) 2021 Benzian H, Guarnizo-Herreño C, Kearns C, Muriithi MW, Watt RG
• The WHO global strategy for oral health: an opportunity for bold action.
  Lancet (London, England) 2021 Benzian H, Guarnizo-Herreño CC, Kearns C, Muriithi MW, Watt RG
• California Dentists' Engagement in Media Advocacy for Sugar Restriction Policies.
  JDR clinical and translational research 2021 Kearns CE, Urata J, Chaffee BW
• Neoliberalism and Indigenous oral health inequalities: a global perspective.
  Community dental health 2021 Jamieson L, Kearns C, Ankeny R, Hedges J, Thomson WM
• Beverage Advertisement Receptivity Associated With Sugary Drink Intake and Harm Perceptions Among California Adolescents.
  American journal of health promotion : AJHP 2020 Chaffee BW, Werts M, White JS, Couch ET, Urata J, Cheng J, Kearns C
• Transnational corporations, obesity and planetary health.
  The Lancet. Planetary health 2020 Schmidt L, Mialon M, Kearns C, Crosbie E
• The Lancet Oral Health Series: Implications for Oral and Dental Research.
  Journal of dental research 2020 Watt RG, Daly B, Allison P, Macpherson LMD, Venturelli R, Listl S, Weyant RJ, Mathur MR, Guarnizo-Herreño CC, Celeste RK, Peres MA, Kearns C, Benzian H
• In defense of sugar: a critical analysis of rhetorical strategies used in The Sugar Association's award-winning 1976 public relations campaign.
  BMC public health 2019 Kearns CE, Glantz SA, Apollonio DE
• Conflicts of interest between the sugary food and beverage industry and dental research organisations: time for reform.
  Lancet (London, England) 2019 Kearns CE, Bero LA
• Ending the neglect of global oral health: time for radical action.
  Lancet (London, England) 2019 Watt RG, Daly B, Allison P, Macpherson LMD, Venturelli R, Listl S, Weyant RJ, Mathur MR, Guarnizo-Herreño CC, Celeste RK, Peres MA, Kearns C, Benzian H
• Oral diseases: a global public health challenge.
  Lancet (London, England) 2019 Peres MA, Macpherson LMD, Weyant RJ, Daly B, Venturelli R, Mathur MR, Listl S, Celeste RK, Guarnizo-Herreño CC, Kearns C, Benzian H, Allison P, Watt RG
• Transnational corporations and oral health: examples from the sugar industry.
  Community dental health 2019 Kearns CE, Watt RG
• The sugar industry's influence on policy.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2018 Kearns C, Schmidt L, Apollonio D, Glantz S
• Soda intake and tobacco use among young adult bar patrons: A cross-sectional study in seven cities.
  Preventive medicine reports 2018 Kearns CE, Lisha NE, Ling PM
• Sugar industry sponsorship of germ-free rodent studies linking sucrose to hyperlipidemia and cancer: An historical analysis of internal documents.
  PLoS biology 2017 Kearns CE, Apollonio D, Glantz SA
• Guidelines to Limit Added Sugar Intake.
  Annals of internal medicine 2017 Kearns C, Schillinger D
• Do Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Cause Obesity and Diabetes?
  Annals of internal medicine 2017 Schillinger D, Kearns C
• Guidelines to Limit Added Sugar Intake: Junk Science or Junk Food?
  Annals of internal medicine 2016 Schillinger D, Kearns C
• Do Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Cause Obesity and Diabetes? Industry and the Manufacture of Scientific Controversy.
  Annals of internal medicine 2016 Schillinger D, Tran J, Mangurian C, Kearns C
• Sugar Industry and Coronary Heart Disease Research: A Historical Analysis of Internal Industry Documents.
  JAMA internal medicine 2016 Kearns CE, Schmidt LA, Glantz SA
• Sugar in the Spotlight.
  Journal of the California Dental Association 2016 Kearns CE
• Relationship between Research Outcomes and Risk of Bias, Study Sponsorship, and Author Financial Conflicts of Interest in Reviews of the Effects of Artificially Sweetened Beverages on Weight Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Reviews.
  PloS one 2016 Mandrioli D, Kearns CE, Bero LA
• Sugar industry influence on the scientific agenda of the National Institute of Dental Research's 1971 National Caries Program: a historical analysis of internal documents.
  PLoS medicine 2015 Kearns CE, Glantz SA, Schmidt LA
• Sweet little lies: Inside an industry's campaign to frost its image, hold regulators at bay, and keep scientists from asking: does sugar kill?
  Mother Jones 2012 Couzens CK, Taubes G.
• How a former dentist drilled the sugar industry
  Mother Jones-online 2012 Couzens CK
• Why Mike Bloomberg's soda ban could actually work
  The Daily Beast 2012 Couzens CK, Taubes G.