Faculty and Staff

Before joining Texas Tech Health El Paso, Dr. Black was in private practice orthodontics for 39 years. Dr. Black received his D.D.S. and orthodontic specialty training at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Dentistry. He has served as president of the El Paso Dental Society, as well as the Texas Dental Association (TDA), and is currently the national trustee for the 15th District (Texas) of the American Dental Association. Along with those duties, Dr. Black has served as chair of the TDA’s Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Council through four sessions of the Texas Legislature.

Dr. Black is a native El Pasoan and a prominent community leader, and is active in many organizations across the city. He has also served in civic positions, such as elder at El Paso’s First Presbyterian Church, founding president of the First Presbyterian Christian Preschool, president of the Sunturians of El Paso, president and chairman of the American Heart Association in El Paso and Texas, and president of El Paso’s Sun Bowl Association. When he is not traveling on business, he enjoys spending quality time with his wife, children and grandchildren.

Dr. Wendy Woodall has past experience as an educator in restorative dentistry and general practice clinics, private practice delivery of oral health care, and research in educational methodology and correlations between oral health and systemic health. Her service has included the following:

Academics: admissions, integrated curriculum design electronic record utilization, selection committees, continuing education and national and international accreditation.

The dental profession: American Dental Education Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, American Dental Association, American Association of Women Dentists, Academy of General Dentistry, American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, American Institute of Oral Biology.

Ethics and professionalism: Pierre Fauchard Academy, Omicron Kappa Upsilon, American College of Dentists.

Community service: Texas Missions of Mercy, Remote Area Medical, Give Kids a Smile, and various service clinics encompassing delivery of health care to children, sheltered women, homeless teens, homeless adults and veterans. 

Dr. Everett received her D.D.S. degree from the University of Southern California School of Dentistry and her M.P.H degree from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She was in private practice as a general dentist before transitioning to dental education. The majority of her academic career was spent at the University of Nevada Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine.  She has extensive experience in didactic, preclinical and clinical instruction.  

Dr. Everett was chosen as a Faculty Scholar for the University of Nevada,Reno School of Medicine in Geriatric Interdisciplinary Training. She received the Enid A. Neidle Scholar Award from the American Dental Education Association promoting the advancement of women in dental education and concentrating on issues affecting women faculty. Additionally, she is a Fellow of the American Institute of Oral Biology and the ADEA Leadership Institute. Other organization memberships include the Pierre Fauchard Academy, Phi Kappa Phi and Omicron Kappa Upsilon. She has published research in several peer-reviewed journals. 

Being committed to community outreach at home and abroad, Dr. Everett has been involved with several service organizations including Huntridge Teen Clinic for the Homeless, Veterans Clinic, Boys and Girls Club of America and Upward Bound. Additionally, she has served on mission trips to Ecuador, Mexico and Bolivia. Her community involvement both locally and internationally has been enriching and gratifying and she hopes to continue with outreach at the Hunt School of Dental Medicine. She is excited to bring her passion and expertise to her colleagues, students and the El Paso community.

Dr. Ortega received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (CU Anschutz) and was an NIH and Ford Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California. Dr. Ortega also was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute postdoctoral fellow at Harvey Mudd College. Prior to working in dental education, Dr. Ortega served as an assistant professor at Macalester College and California State University, Fullerton. 

Dr. Ortega’s research is focused on understanding double-stranded DNA viral assembly using X-ray crystallography and other biophysical techniques to potentially develop novel therapeutics to prevent viral infections. He collaborates with other labs focused on preventing bacterial infections, treating prostate cancer, and treating dyslipidemia.

Dr. Ortega has experience developing novel curriculum and working with student affairs to increase student success and broadening participation in STEM. His passion for education includes working with students at the high school, community college, and university level. Dr. Ortega is a native El Pasoan and a graduate of Grinnell College. 

A native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Dr. Sandoval has served six dental schools in a variety of academic and administrative positions including department chair, associate dean for student affairs, associate dean for academic affairs, and interim dean. Since 2017, he has served as an Assistant Dean at the Hunt School of Dental Medicine. He attended the University of New Mexico and received his Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1975 from Baylor College of Dentistry (Now Texas A&M College of Dentistry) and his Master of Public Health from the University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston in 1992.  A member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon and a Fellow of the American College of Dentists, Dr. Sandoval has served as a curriculum consultant to the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) and has also served as Vice-Chair of the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations.  In 1996-97, he served as President of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA), formerly the American Association of Dental Schools.

Dr. Wenlian Zhou earned D.D.S., D.M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in Dentistry and Orthodontics, and an MPH in Healthcare Administration and Policy. In 1998, she was invited to “The Morphology and Structure of the Craniofacial Bone of Human Beings Using Advanced Moirs Topography and Anthropometry” project as the principal researcher by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, leading to many publications. She has over twenty years of experience as a dental educator, practitioner, and orthodontist in both China and the United States. 

Before she joined Texas Tech University Health Science Center El Paso, Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine, she was a professor at University of Nevada Las Vegas, School of Dental Medicine, where she initiated, co-designed and served as the program director of its Advanced Standing Program - Doctor of Dental Surgery, and graduated three classes there. 

Besides her teaching duties, she is the Steering Committee member of the Commission on Dental Competency Assessments (CDCA); an examiner of ADEX dental licensure exam; a fellow of International College of Dentists (ICD) U.S. Section, and a member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon (OKU), the national dental honor society. 

Dr. Zhou’s research interests include Obstructive Sleep Apnea’s Oral Intervention; the Comparison of Dental Education and Licensure System between U.S. and China; and Clinical Dentistry related areas.

Dr. Zhou has passion in teaching dentistry, and enjoys being a dental educator. She continues her teaching and service commitments to Texas Tech Health El Paso, Hunt School of Dental Medicine, and the dental profession.