Kuhio Pediatric Dental Is excited to welcome Dr. Erica Leone to our dental practice beginning in May. Dr. Leone is a North Carolina native born and raised in Burlington, NC. She received her undergraduate degrees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill double majoring in Biology and Italian.
Dr. Leone Continued her education receiving her Doctorate of Dental Surgery from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Dentistry where she served as Vice President of her class for 3 years. She went on to complete her specialty training in Pediatric Dentistry at Columbia University/New york Presbyterian Hospital in New York, Ny. She is an active member of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, and American Dental Association.
Dr. Leones parents were born in Colombia, South America and raised her to be bilingual in English and Spanish. She is so excited to call Kauai her home! She looks forward to connecting with our island community in fun and creative ways during this challenging period.
Kuhio Pediatric Dental is pleased to welcome Dr. Kaimi Matsunaga to our practice beginning in August. Dr. Kaimi was born and raised in Hawai`i. He schooled and trained all over the world from Tokyo to Cape Town. He received his degrees from University of Tokyo (A.B.), UCSF (D.D.S., M.D.S.), and Yale University (M.P.H.-HCM). He completed a Fogarty-Fulbright Fellowship and was awarded a Bill and Melinda Gates Fellowship both served in Africa. He was selected as a Gillman Scholar, PT Scholar, and a Yale Global Health Scholar where he conducted his research at Jingle Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital, Bhutan.
He received an HPSP scholarship and served in the US military, where he completed a general practice residency. During his active duty term, he served as the executive officer of the hospital and was awarded medical officer/CGO of the year at two different hospitals. He then furthered his training in pediatric dentistry at UM-Physicians, MN Childrens Hospital where he completed his research in infectious diseases at the Medical School and Mayo Clinic. His scholarly interests include craniofacial anomalies, serving children with special healthcare needs, and history of medicine.
Volunteering is a passion of his and he has provided pro bono medical and dental care globally partnered with various humanitarian organizations in Southeast Asia, South Pacific, South America, and Subsaharan Africa.