Professor Liz Kay

Role

I have the great privilege of being the Foundation Dean of Peninsula Dental School.  The feedback I have received (and still receive) about our dental graduates has made me immensely proud and I will always be grateful for having been given the opportunity to found the first new dental school in the UK for 40 years.  I am also a Public Health Academic Consultant working regionally and nationally with Public Health England, focussing on inequalities in Oral Health.  I am Programme Lead for an MBA in Healthcare, in collaboration with Plymouth University Business School and Healthcare Learning Company.  This highly innovative blended distance-learning programme offers healthcare professionals the opportunity to undertake action learning within their own healthcare environment.

I am a highly committed clinician and teacher, focussing on the delivery of appropriate care to those who find clinical care particularly challenging.  I am extremely proud of the excellent student and patient feedback I receive about the learning experiences I deliver and the dental care I deliver.

 I am the Plymouth University’s stakeholder Governor on the Board of (Shadow) Governors for Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust and I sit on the University Athena Swan Committee and the University Culture, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. I am Chair of the RCHT’s Governing Body’s Membership and Engagement Committee and act as Topic Expert to a NICE Public Health Advisory Committee.  In addition I am a Trustee and Vice Chair of the British Medical and Dental Students’ Trust and a Trustee of the British Dental Health Foundation.  I Chair the Shirley Glasstone Hughes Foundation Management Committee, which oversees the commissioning of funded research relating specifically to dentistry.  Finally I am a member of the Equality Challenge Unit’s Athena Swan Medical Practice committee and also a judging panel member for Athena Swan, a cause about which I am passionate.

 I am sole editor of a new comprehensive (250,000 words) textbook for dental undergraduates, collaborating with colleagues from dental schools around the world.  This is due to be published in Spring 2015.

 I have been or am, external examiner for 4th BDS at Hong Kong University and an external PhD examiner at Queen Mary’s, Kings College London, University College, London and Hong Kong University.

 I have attracted over 1.2 million pounds of research funding, and have published over 150 papers and 6 books.  I am currently leading a research review on oral health promotion for the National Institute of Clinical and Healthcare Excellence, and have acted as advisor to NICE on the health economics of oral health.  A review I am currently conducting for NICE is very important as it will underpin national policy in oral health promotion. 

 I sit on the Editorial Boards of three journals, including the British Dental Journal and peer-review papers for a large number of other academic publications.