Oral health -> The Team

We are a group of dental public health professionals and members of the European Association of Dental Public Health (EADPH) interested in setting up an oral health section within EUPHA. This proposal aims to establish a section within EUPHA on Prevention of Oral Diseases as oral health is integral to general health. One reason for establishing an oral health section hinges on a common risk factor approach to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and tackling health inequalities.

The section was officially established during the EUPHA Governing Board meeting in november 2019.

Steering Committee

Members of the Steering Committee for Oral Health have already been identified who are geographically distributed to represent all areas across Europe and from different positions to advocate for oral health. The Committee met in London on 18^th January 2019 to draft this proposal and prepare for the next steps. The Steering Committee for Oral Health will submit a workshop on the conference theme in Marseille- ‘Building bridges between oral and general health to tackle health inequalities-the case for sugar’.

Dr Paula Vassallo-Chair
Dr. Vassallo is a Consultant in Dental Public Health and is currently the Director of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Malta with the Government of Malta and is actively involved in promoting health in Malta.  She is a lecturer in Preventive and Community Dentistry and Dental Public Health at the University of Malta. Dr Vassallo is Vice President of the European Association of Dental Public Health. She is a board member of the European Chief Dental Officers.  She is also member of the health research group of the Institute of Small Island States.  She is Past President of the Council of European Chief Dental Officers and is immediate past Chairperson of the Platform for Better Oral health in Europe. She has also chaired the Working Group of Oral Health in The CED (Council of European Dentists) and was responsible for guiding the development of CED policies related to oral health issues

Dr Colwyn Jones is the current President of the European Association of Dental Public Health.  He has retired as a Consultant in Dental Public Health in the NHS in Scotland, and continues as an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh.  His research interests include public health approaches to improving oral and general health, and effective ways to reduce health inequalities.

Dr. Benoit Varenne is the Oral Health Programme Officer at the World Health Organization. The objective of his position is to lead WHO’s work on the global agenda on oral health. In prior years, Benoit worked in consulting firms as a public health consultant for several years, as a consultant for WHO in the Eastern Mediterranean region and worked closely with numerous NGOs and other international health organizations. He has assisted ministries of health and health care planners in several part of the world with a special focus on the African continent. Benoit Varenne graduated in medical dentistry in 1993 at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, France and holds a PhD in Public Health and Epidemiology from University of Pierre and Marie Curie (Paris VI). In addition to France, Benoit Varenne has studied in community health at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

George Tsakos is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at UCL. He also holds Honorary Consultant in Dental Public Health. He has served as President of the European Association of Dental Public Health (EADPH) and is currently Chair Elect of the Platform for Better Oral Health in Europe. He is also an International Association of Dental Research (IADR) Councillor representing the Behavioural Epidemiological and Health Services Research group. George is a founding and core member of the International Centre for Oral Health Inequalities and Policy (ICOHIRP). his main research interests are on: subjective outcome measures of oral health and quality of life, oral health inequalities and the social determinants of health, ageing and oral health, and the relationship between oral and general health.

Professor Magnus Hakeberg holds a degree in dentistry and is also a specialist in Endodontology. He is professor of dental public health at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. His research focus around subjective and objective health indicators relative to social and psychological determinants. In addition the clinical research activities deal with dental anxiety/phobia and treatment modalities.

Dr Ruxandra Sava Rosianu is a lecturer at the Department of Preventive, Community Dentistry and Oral Health, within the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Victor Babes” Timisoara. During her professional activity, she has collaborated to edit different didactic materials for students from the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th year of the Faculty of Dentistry. She is an editor for two scientific journals: Medicine in Evolution and Oral Health and Dental Management. She is a member of the European Association of Dental Public Health since 2008, and a member of the Steering Committee to set up a EUPHA section on Oral Health.

Dr Huda Yusuf is a clinical lecturer and the lead for Dental Public Health for undergraduate programmes at Queen Mary University of London. She is also a Consultant in Dental Public Health for Public Health England. She is an academic member for the Speciality Advisory Committee on dental public health at the Royal College of Surgeons in England. Her main research interests are developing and evaluating interventions to reduce sugars consumption in children and training of the wider workforce to promote health and reduce health inequalities.

Recent News

EUPHA related pages