Professor Liz Kay

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 a Non Executive Director of Plymouth University Hospitals Trust. 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 am also honoured to be the President and Chair of Trustee Board for the Oral 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 have authored 6 books and most recently acted as sole editor of a new comprehensive (250,000 words) textbook for dental undergraduates, collaborating with colleagues from dental schools around the world.  

 I have been 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 1.5 million pounds of research funding, and have published over 150 papers and 6 books and 3 book chapters.  I am currently leading research in access to oral care for vulnerable families, and have acted as advisor to NICE on the health economics of oral health.  A research review  conducting for NICE underpins 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.

Teaching interests

My teaching interests lie in decision analysis/rational treatment palnning, behavioural science applied to dentistitry and oral health, health promotion and education, inhalation sedation

Staff serving as external examiners

I act as External Examiner to Honk Kong University's BDS1V professional examination and have examined many Mastes level and PhD theses, both nationally and internationally

Research interests

My research relates to decision analysis and to health state measurement, and to the use of psychological techniques to motivate pepople, particulalry hard to reach groups towards oral health

Other research

25 Masters Degrees Supervised
4 PhDs
2 MPhil
4 PhDs underway

Grants & contracts

Over £ 1.2 million research monie during careeer.
Recent UoPEL contracts with BDIA, Oral B, Wrigleys