Support Center

Star Dental Partners’ Support Center team is comprised of an experienced group of professionals from diverse healthcare and dental backgrounds. They each bring expertise in various non-clinical areas that are key to dental practice success.

Christine Nelson

Vice President, Revenue Cycle

Christine joined Star Dental Partners from Teledoc where she served as Senior Director of RCM and was responsible for all functions within the revenue cycle. Prior to Teledoc, Christine held RCM leadership roles at Cotiviti Healthcare, US Anesthesia Partners, and Emdeon. She brings a vast knowledge of the revenue cycle across many different healthcare segments and has served in almost every capacity within the revenue cycle function throughout her career. Christine was born in Southern California and has lived in Texas for over 30 years. She loves 80’s music, traveling, and going on cruises. Most importantly, she loves being a dog mom!

Amelia Melendez

Director of Integrations

Amelia has almost a decade of Texas dental industry experience, working for both large and small dental support organizations. Her prior experience includes opening and integrating over 20 De Novo dental offices across 12 states. Amelia has an MBA from UT Dallas and a BBA in management from UT Permian Basin. Amelia has been married to her husband, for almost 10 years and has 3 wonderful dogs. Amelia and her husband enjoy spending time on their small Texas cattle ranch and building awards in their free time.

Kathryn Barni

Director of Human Resources

Kathryn has nearly 15 years of experience in Human Resources Management and Recruiting with both public and privately owned companies. She has focused the last 7 years building, developing and managing multi-site and multi-state HR platforms conducive to healthcare sales and operations. Kathryn’s prior experience includes executive search and corporate recruiting for medical device, financial services, and commercial real estate industry professionals at all levels. Originally born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, she earned dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Corporate Communications & Public Affairs and Spanish from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. Kathryn is passionate about her family, two senior dogs, art, and enjoys traveling to visit friends and family in the US as well as abroad. Her family reside in northern California, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland. She is an active member of the Society for Human Resource Management and Certified Professional (SHRM-CP).

Jason Schwanke

Director of Marketing

Jason brings almost 12 years of diverse marketing experience that includes several years in healthcare, including 6 years in Dental (DSO). Jason has worked directly with almost 200 privately owned dental practices, implementing and driving marketing strategy to achieve significant growth. In addition, he spent 3 years leading the marketing department for a multi-location outpatient diagnostic imaging group in Texas. He is originally from the Pacific Northwest and attended the University of Oregon, where he earned a BS in Business Marketing. Jason lives with his wife, son, and two dogs in Dallas, TX and enjoys outdoor activities such as skiing, camping, and golfing.

Whitney Schemmel

Senior Doctor Recruiter

Whitney has over 15 years of talent acquisition experience within both agency and corporate healthcare space. Prior to joining Star Dental Partners, Whitney handled recruitment of doctors into national, multi-unit dental practice settings for private and public companies. Whitney has developed a passion for building professional relationships and making a positive impact on the careers of the dental community. Her goal is to support clinical and business initiatives through strategic planning, team collaboration and positive communication. Whitney is a Texas native graduating from the Texas Tech University College of Media & Communications with a BA in Public Relations. Whitney and her husband have been married for over 10 years, have two energetic boys and a rescue pup. They enjoy staying active, visiting family and friends across the country and supporting the Dallas Fire-Rescue community.

Karen Cope

Controller

Karen is a CPA with over 20 years of experience in both healthcare and public accounting. Prior to joining Star Dental Partners, Karen spent 8 years at a fast growing, private equity backed multi-site healthcare company helping them take the company from privately held to being publicly traded. Karen looks forward to improving month end closing cycles, system implementations, developing and maintaining internal controls, as well as managing external audits. Karen is a native Texan. She graduated from Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, where she was a member of the Tarleton TexAnn basketball team all four years. Karen lives in Flower Mound with her husband and 2 children.

Angela ElShekh

Regional Director of Operations

Angela joins Start Dental Partners with over 15 years of experience honoring and servicing the dental industry. Since 2013, she has dedicated her career working in leadership/coaching roles in different dental service organizations, where she enjoyed closely working alongside dentists and hygienists. Angela is passionate about the importance of the industry, and what ‘access to dental care’ represents for the communities’ health and wellbeing. A resident of Texas for 20 years, Angela obtained her Bachelor of Science Degree from Texas A&M University, as well as both an MBA and Master’s in Health Systems Management from Texas Woman’s University. Angela resides in Sachse with her husband, Ahmed and 16-year-old daughter, Sarah. In her spare time, Angela loves to be with family and friends, travelling, reading books, and participating in triathlons.

Katelyn Roberts

Regional Director of Operations

Katelyn joins Star Dental Partners with over 12 years of Dental Operations and Compliance Management experience. Over the past decade, she has focused on multi-unit management and partnership in both tenured and Denovo markets. More recently, Katelyn focused on the launch and development of new market, multi-unit practices, where she executed grassroots marketing and operational initiatives. Katelyn is passionate about providing the best in Oral Healthcare for the dental community through building strong partnerships with operators and clinicians. Katelyn obtained a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University, ‘Go Pokes!’ A born and raised native of Oklahoma, she has lived and traveled around the world – including time abroad in Australia. In her spare time, she loves brunching on the weekends, watching football games, going to movies with her fiancé, Adam, and taking road trips to explore new and exciting places.

Danielle Adair

Regional Director of Operations

Danielle brings to Star Dental Partners nearly 30 years of clinical and operational dental experience. She started her dental career as an Oral Surgery Assistant while earning a degree in Dental Hygiene from the University of Maine. Danielle has held dental hygienist licenses in five different states, and she has considerable experience in nearly every facet of dental specialty, bringing intimate, hands-on knowledge to her role as Regional Director of Operations. Danielle is a relationship-builder; she loves people, and she has a warm personality. She has experience in private clinical practice, learning development and multi-site operations in the Dental Service Organization space. With a kind heart and broad-based knowledge of all aspects of operations, it is Danielle’s down-to-earth nature, practical experience, and intimate hands-on knowledge that doctors and those who work closely with her have come to value. Danielle was born and raised in New England and loves a good Maine “lobstah roll” on occasion. She recently relocated to Tampa, Florida to be closer to her supported teams. She is the proud mother of two smart and beautiful daughters pursuing degrees at Georgia State University. In her spare time, Danielle loves traveling, including a recent trip to Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain. Danielle loves her work and her life and feels fortunate to be part of the Star Dental Partners team!

Kemper Burt

Regional Director of Operations

Bio coming soon.

Clarence Jenkins

Regional Director of Operations

Clarence is an experienced multi-site dental operator who cut his teeth as a Dental Assistant and worked as an Office Manager before progressing into regional leadership positions, most recently leading 70+ practices for a national DSO. Clarence joined Star because of our partnership philosophy, our values, and our team focus; he is passionate about collaborating with dentists, executing operational plans, and most of all contributing to the overall health and beautiful smiles of patients. Clarence was raised in the small town of Griffin, GA, and is the eldest of four boys. He and his spouse reside in downtown Atlanta and have one dog. In his spare time, he enjoys weight training, outdoor dining, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

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