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 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.