Iriana Peña Manrique, D.D.S., M.S.

Dr. Iriana Peña Manrique joined DCEG as a postdoctoral fellow in the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch in December 2023, as part of a joint dental public health fellowship with the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and NCI. Dr. Peña Manrique earned her dental degree in 2011 from the Public University San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Peru. She went on to earn a certificate in advanced education in general dentistry in 2017 from the University of Connecticut, and an M.S. in global health policy and management in 2019 from Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts.

In IIB, Dr. Peña Manrique's work is focused on identifying the preferred sources to receive health information and its association with knowledge that HPV causes oropharyngeal cancer. Her research mentors are Aimée R. Kreimer, Ph.D., senior investigator, Jaimie Z. Shing, Ph.D., M.P.H., postdoctoral fellow, and Loretto Carvajal, M.D., M.Sc., postdoctoral fellow, all in IIB. Her goal is to increase HPV vaccination rates in the United States. More broadly, her research interests are oral cancer prevention, oral cancer early diagnosis, disparities in oral cancer prevention education, and development of techniques/sources/ways to prevent oral cancer.