Dr. Nanna Ariaban

After a happy childhood in the suburbs of Washington, DC, Dr. Nanna Ariaban excelled at the University of Maryland, earning a bachelor’s of science in neurobiology and physiology. Next, she served in a civilan capacity at the Naval Hospital Research Facility, working on how to prevent lethal combat injuries. Her success was measured by the hundreds of lives that were saved in combat when the military implemented her research.

Dr. Nanna, as her patients call her, chose the prestigious University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. It is one of only three universities at that level with a dental school. Her passion to help children shined through in her participation with the annual Special Olympics of Philadelphia and her internship at the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic, which is world-renowned for the help it brings to children.