Clare Granger Speaker Bio

Clare works as a Senior Transformation Manager for the Primary & Integrated Neighbourhood Care team, within the NHS Lancashire & South Cumbria Integrated Care Board. Her role is to work collaboratively with primary care colleagues and wider stakeholders in the strategic planning, service transformation, and commissioning of primary care dental services. She also works clinically part-time as a Senior Dental Officer within NHS Community Dental Services.

Eric Rooney Speaker Bio

Qualified as a dentist in 1983, Eric has worked in clinical practice and held a number of roles in the National Health Service including Clinical Director, Medical Director and Consultant in Dental Public Health.

He has wide experience of dental policy development and in 2008/9 he co-authored “NHS Dental Services in England, An Independent Review” led by Professor Jimmy Steele. He was Clinical Lead for the Department of Health’s subsequent Dental contract reform programme.

He was active in the BDA in his early career and served as chair of the NHS Policy Group, has been an invited Board member of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England and is a Past President of the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry (BASCD). He was instrumental in establishing the dental school at the University of Central Lancashire and was honorary Professor of Dental and Oral Health Policy.

He was Deputy Chief Dental Officer at NHS England from November 2015 until January 2021, where he led the work on developing Local Dental Networks and integrating dentistry within the developing NHS. Latterly he was engaged in the development of the policy and protocols for dentistry in the Covid pandemic.

He remains an Honorary Consultant to the OCDO and has a part time contract supporting Primary Care Integration in the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System

Nabihah Hamid Speaker Bio

Nabihah is a Dental Core Trainee at King’s College Hospital, working across the Special Care and Community Dental departments. She graduated from King’s College London and spent a few years working as a General Dentist in London and Buckinghamshire. After a good grounding in general practice, she took up a DCT post to further her skills in treating more complex patients, and undertake training in sedation.

Ross Keat Speaker Bio

Ross completed his BDS in 2013 at Bristol University, UK, obtaining distinction in a Postgraduate Certificate of Business and Management in 2015 with the University of Essex and a distinction in his Masters’ in Public Health at the University of Manchester in 2021. He is currently completing an MBA with Quantic Institute.

He is a Member of the Academy of Medical Educators since 2018 and became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians Glasgow, Scotland, in 2016, becoming a Fellow in March 2023.

He completed specialty training in Dental Public Health in September 2023, and currently works as a Consultant in Public Health at Knowsley Local Authority, where he is Deputy Director leading on Health Protection.

Máiréad Harding Speaker Bio

Máiréad Harding is the current BASCD President 2023-2024.

She has been a BASCD Council member since 2019, and keenly supports the Associations values of science, philosophy and practice of promoting oral health of populations and groups in society.

Máiréad Harding is professor of Dental Public Health and Preventive Dentistry in Cork University Dental School and Hospital, her main interests focussing on measurement, epidemiology and health services research.

Jason Wong Speaker Bio

Jason Wong MBE is the interim Chief Dental Officer for England.

Awarded an MBE for services to dentistry and oral health, Jason has previously chaired local dental networks across parts of the Midlands and the East of England and was also secretary of Lincolnshire Local Dental committee for 16 years. His role as Chief Dental Officer now sees him working in collaboration with local and regional teams to deliver improved outcomes for patients, while also championing the role of dentists and dentistry within the health system.

Andrew Dickenson Speaker Bio

Andrew graduated in Dentistry from Leeds University and Medicine at Newcastle University. He has over 30 years' experience as a clinician within the NHS, with a varied career in education, management, and healthcare leadership. Professionally he is an accredited Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon and registered specialist in Oral Surgery. From 2014 - 2022 he was a Postgraduate Dental Dean until joining Welsh Government as Chief Dental Officer.
Andrew has a broad experience within postgraduate medical and dental education with particular interest in the quality assurance of educational programmes, widening participation, leadership development and integrating digital technology into clinical practice. His personal interest is in workforce and service planning within rural settings. He was appointed a Visiting Professorship in Health & Social Care at the University of Chester in recognition of his contribution to the field of rural education.

Kevin Fenton Speaker Bio

Kevin Fenton is the President of the Faculty of Public Health. He is a senior public health expert and infectious disease epidemiologist who has worked in a variety of public health executive leadership roles across government and academia in the United Kingdom and internationally. His specialist interests are in tackling health inequalities, infectious disease prevention and control, climate justice and urban health.

Professor Fenton is the Regional Director for London in the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) within the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). Within this role, he is also the statutory public health advisor to the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority and the Regional Director of Public Health for NHS London.  He is also the government’s Chief Advisor on HIV and Chair of the HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group for England.

As President, Kevin works closely with the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges, UK Local Government Association and a wide range of partners who have interests in Public Health.  Kevin is committed to working with all 4 Nations of the UK and FPH members across the world.

Jenny Gallagher Speaker Bio

Professor Jenny Gallagher MBE is the Newland-Pedley Professor of Oral Health Strategy/Honorary Consultant in Dental Public Health. At King’s College London she is an Ambassador for International, Engagement and Service, having held the post of Dean for International Affairs at Faculty for over six years.

Professor Gallagher has just been elected Vice-President of IADR, the global organisation for dental, oral and craniofacial research and will take up this role at the forthcoming conference in New Orleans, March 2024. She has held several senior professional leadership roles over the course of her career including President of BASCD (2012/13), Chair of Dental Public Health Consultants’ Group (2017/21), Co-president of EADPH (2012), and President of the Global Oral Health Inequalities Research Network of IADR (2022/23). She is currently an elected member of Faculty Board of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (2020/26). 

Research interests include a particular focus on shaping the healthcare workforce to meet the needs of the population, with a strong emphasis on prevention and the care of vulnerable groups, drawing on the skill mix of the dental team. She has been advising the World Health Organization on global oral health workforce issues as well as country-specific research collaborations.

Actively involved in workforce education and training including specialty and doctoral training, Jenny has led national and European working groups. Nationally, she was the academic lead in the Fourth Edition of ‘Delivering Better Oral Health’ evidence-based toolkit for prevention for all dental professionals. 

Professor Gallagher was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours List of 2015 for her services to oral health.

Barry Cockcroft Speaker Bio

Barry is a general dental practitioner by background and is the only person to have held the Chief Dental Officer post with that career history. He joined the Department of Health as Deputy CDO in 2002 and was appointed CDO in July 2006. Following his retirement in 2015 he joined Integrated Dental Holdings (Mydentist) as a non-executive director for six years. He is a mentor on the University of Birmingham Alumni Leadership Mentoring Programme and is currently chair of the British Fluoridation Society. While in post as CDO Barry oversaw the initial work and publication of the first edition of Delivering Better Oral Health and the creation of two new dental schools which provided the clinical training in a largely primary care environment.

He was influential in widening the scope of practice of DCPs and worked with the University of Portsmouth to create a new school for dental therapists.

Away from dentistry Barry is now chair of the board at the Diocese of Coventry Multi Academy Trust, one of the largest MATs in the country.
He has three children and eight grandchildren, all of whom are caries free!

Nairn Wilson Speaker Bio

Sir Nairn is Founding President Emeritus of the College of General Dentistry and Emeritus Professor of Dentistry, King's College London.

Huda Yusef Speaker Bio

Huda is the module lead for Dental Public Health for undergraduates and teaches postgraduate students in Dental Public Health including supervision of MSc and PhD students at Queen Mary University London. She has been an invited speaker for European Conferences and the Royal College of Medicine , Royal College of GPs and the Royal College of Nursing. She is also currently the President of the European Association of Dental Public Health.

She is the Training Programme Director for Dental Public Health for London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex. She is the Speciality Advisory Committee Chair for Dental Pubic Health for the UK at the Royal College of Surgeons.

Huda is a Senior Clinical Lecturer in Dental Public Health at the Dental Public Unit in Queen Mary University of London and a Consultant in Public Public Health at NHS England.

Miranda Steeples Speaker Bio

Miranda has worked in dentistry for 17 years, both as a dental nurse, and now as a dental hygienist and dental therapist. She qualified from the University of Leeds in 2009 and works in general practice in the South East of England.

In her spare time, Miranda completed an MSc at the University of Kent, and enjoys volunteering for Mini Molars Cambodia providing dental care to children.

She is a member of the Board of the Faculty of dental hygiene and therapy for the College of General Dentistry; a member of the coordinating committee, Alliance for a Cavity Free Future UK Chapter; and here today as the President of the British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy.

Charlotte Jeavons Speaker Bio

Charlotte started her career as a Dental Nurse more than 30 years ago and worked in a clinical environment for about 8 years. She has held positions in both dental public health and community dental services management for two London Primary Care Trusts from 2000 to 2011. Concurrently Charlotte started teaching part-time in 2000 at Bart’s and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, where she was also the first DCP to gain a PG certificate in Teaching and Learning for Medical and Dental students. During this time Charlotte served on the National Oral Health Promotion committee and was Chair of the group in 2007-8.

In 2011 she moved into higher education full time at the University of Greenwich, where she is now the Head of the School of Human Sciences spanning three campuses with 130 members of staff. Charlotte has a PhD in (dental) public health ethics focusing on inequalities and their role in parental consent for community programmes.

Charlotte was one of the first dental care professional to be accepted as a member of the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry in 2012 and in 2017 she joined the Council as the Oral Health Lead after acting as their appointed auditor for a year. In 2024 Charlotte will be the first dental care professional to be elected as President of BASCD. Charlotte is an international reviewer of public health curriculums with APHEA (Association for Public Health Education Accreditation). She was part of the group who initially drafted the UKPHR practitioner standards after petitioning for practitioner registration for some years prior to this. She subsequently played a role in the review of these standards in 2017/8 and has been an assessor with the UKPHR since 2012. In 2023 she was awarded Honorary membership of the Faculty of Public Health in recognition of her work in the field of dental public health. More recently Charlotte has also been awarded Fellowship of the College of General Dentistry.

Charlotte Curl Speaker Bio

Charlotte is currently a Consultant in Special Care Dentistry at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust where she has worked since 2015 and immediate Past President of the British Society of Special Care Dentistry. She was previously a Consultant in Special Care Dentistry in Kent Community NHS Foundation Trust. During her career, which started with House Officer and Senior House Officer Posts in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, she has worked in 4 Community Dental Services across the UK and for some years, she continued working part time as a Specialty Dentist in Maxillofacial Surgery and in General Practice on a part-time basis. Charlotte’s particular interests are the management of patients with mental health issues, learning disabilities and dementia and delivering dental treatment under general anaesthesia. She carries out comprehensive dental treatment under local anaesthesia, conscious sedation techniques and general anaesthesia for a diverse group of patients with differing additional needs. In addition to her Special Care Duties at King’s, for the past 6 years, she has been the Dental Institute’s Patient Safety and Governance Lead. Additionally, she is a Board Member of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, RCS England where she is Co-Chair of the Education Committee.

James Edward Speaker Bio

James is a Dental Core Trainee at King’s College Hospital, working across dental public health, oral surgery and acute dental care. He first studied a Bachelor of Medical Sciences at Bangor University before graduating with a BDS with honours from the University of Central Lancashire in July 2022. He completed his Foundation Training in the East Midlands in August 2023.

Projects: James is currently working on the service evaluation with special care dentistry at King’s and will help to design, trial and develop a tool from the initial data on GA bookings to improve their efficiency. He is also running a quality improvement project with the acute dental care clinics to improve signposting of patients to nearby dental practices to receive routine care after resolving their dental emergency.

Research: Working with a small team of dental public health colleagues, James is undertaking a rapid review into overcoming geographic barriers to accessing dental care. Previously, James published his undergraduate dissertation comparing management modalities in trigeminal neuralgia.
Accolades: In November 2023, James sat and passed the second part of the MFDS exam with RCS England.

Margaret Woodward Speaker Bio

Working as a clinical dental therapist and health promotion officer, Margaret Woodward developed a keen interest in oral disease prevention and inequalities in health. She gained a master’s degree in public health from the University of Liverpool in 1991. She was later seconded by the community dental service in Chester to the Department of Dental Sciences, University of Liverpool. There she worked under the direction of Professor Mike Lennon on a feasibility study for a community-based milk fluoridation programme. This was funded by The Borrow Foundation, a UK registered charity dedicated to the improvement of oral health. Since 1996 Margaret has been employed directly by the Foundation to assist with the coordination and development of its work. The charity’s focus is firmly on population oral health, and in particular, the prevention of oral diseases. Its resources have been applied in many parts of the world and helped establish some important partnerships and collaborations.

In 2007 Margaret qualified as a public health specialist and was elected as a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health.

Peter Mossey Speaker Bio

Peter is a Professor of Craniofacial Development and Consultant in Orthodontics, University of Dundee Dental School. He is currently Associate Dean for Internationalisation, University of Dundee Dental School, Past President of IADR Global Oral Health Inequalities Research Network (GOHIRN), Convenor of World Dental Federation (FDI) Oral Health in Comprehensive Cleft Care and Member of the Medical Advisory Board (Executive Committee) of Smile Train.

Gail Vernon Speaker Bio

Gail started her career as a dental technician fabricating cobalt chrome denture bases at Manchester Dental School, before moving over to the dental industry in the early 1990’s. Starting as a dental representative and working up the ladder to commercial marketing manager of a global oral care company, Gail built a wealth of experience which she used to start her marketing and communications business VSM, back in 2001. Since then, Gail has worked with a wide range of dental companies, academia and NHS organisations. Gail is currently the Industry Councillor for the British Society of Dental Research and here today as the President of the British Dental Industry Association.     

Claire Stevens Speaker Bio

Claire is a Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry with experience of clinical leadership in the NHS at both regional and national level.  She has worked clinically in the NHS for 23 years, with 13 years at Consultant level. 

Claire is media spokesperson and a Past President of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry, a society which aims to improve oral health in children and encourages the highest standards of clinical care.  She was lead for the National Dental Check by One campaign which resulted in a 23% increase in 0-2 year old children accessing dental care in the first year post launch.

Claire was appointed CBE for services to children in the 2018 New Year’s Honours List and as a Manchester Academic Health Science Network Chair in 2021. As Clinical lead for Oral Health in the National Children and Young People’s Transformation Programme Team her work led to the inclusion of oral health in CORE20PLUS5 CYP – NHSE’s approach to addressing inequalities in children and young people.

A visible advocate for children’s oral health, she now has a portfolio career with diverse clients ranging from ICBs, industry partners and political organisations.

Easter Joury Speaker Bio

Easter is an NIHR Clinical Lecturer and Speciality Registrar in Dental Public Health at Queen Mary University of London, working with the Dental Public Health National Team and East of England Public Health England. On the research side, she is leading funded research projects and Patient & Public Involvement activities in Mental Health and Oral Health; and on the teaching side, she is leading the Postgraduate Distance Learning Module in Evidence Based Dentistry. For the service side, she is leading and supporting a number of oral health improvement, health protection, healthcare public health and epidemiological projects, particularly in urgent dental care and reducing oral health inequalities.