Ian Mills, Marie Parker & Pouya Zohrabpour appointed College Ambassadors

The College of General Dentistry has announced the appointments of Dr Ian Mills, Marie Parker and Dr Pouya Zohrabpour as ambassadors.

New CGDent Ambassadors (l-r) Dr Pouya Zohrabpour, Marie Parker, Dr Ian Mills

Drawn from a variety of backgrounds, College Ambassadors have a remit to advocate for the college’s mission and vision, and the new appointments further expand the range of expertise and scope of influence among its team of ambassadors, and increase its size to fifteen.

Dr Ian Mills FCGDent is a Founder and former Trustee of the College of General Dentistry, a partner in an eight-surgery mixed NHS-and-private practice in North Devon, and Associate Professor in Primary Care Dentistry at Peninsula Dental School. A past Dean of the Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP) and former Trustee of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, he has represented the profession on a range of local and national committees including Devon LDC, the BDA General Dental Practice Committee and NHS England’s Dental Systems Reform Advisory Board, and in 2020 was a member of the CGDent-FGDP COVID-19 guideline development group and SDCEP’s AGP Rapid Review group. He is a Fellow of CGDent, the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, the International College of Dentistry and the Higher Education Academy, and a past Fellow of FGDP, and in 2018 he was awarded a PhD from Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry for his research on person-centred care in dentistry. Involved in undergraduate and postgraduate education, and actively engaged in practice-based research, his other research interests include patient-reported outcome measures and environmental sustainability in dentistry.

Marie Parker is the Deputy Programme Director of Hygiene and Therapy at University College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust London and an Associate Member of CGDent.  Since qualifying as a dental nurse, Marie has worked in various areas of dentistry and completed a number of leadership and management qualifications, as well as a Master’s in Education. An advocate and promoter of dental nursing careers, and of improving the accessibility of education and training for all registered dental care professionals, she has been involved in the training and education of dental nurses and other members of the dental team throughout most of her career.  Currently co-chair of the Dental Trailblazers group, she is a past Chair and Trustee of the National Examining Board for Dental Nurses.

Dr Pouya Zohrabpour graduated BDS from the University of Bristol in 2020 and is an Associate Member of CGDent. He completed his Foundation Training in north-west London, where he continues to work as an associate dentist in both a mixed and a private practice, and earlier this year he received the Faculty of General Dental Practice UK’s Foundation Dentist of the Year award in recognition of his professionalism, dedication, and development of training initiatives for young dentists. He pursues his passion for teaching through his Two Dentists YouTube channel and Instagram account, and collaborates with the My Dental Care app to create oral health videos aimed at educating the public.

Commenting on the new appointments, Dr Abhi Pal FCGDent, President of the College, said:

“A strong, dynamic, diverse team of ambassadors is important to the College in working towards eligibility for the award of a Royal Charter and realising its considerable potential for the profession and our patients. Ian, Marie and Pouya bring with them a range of experience and professional interests which will help the College fulfil its aspirations. Marie and Pouya reflect the diverse dental professional backgrounds which the College has a mission to support, from established members of the dental team to those who are beginning their careers in dentistry, and as a past Dean of the FGDP, Ian was instrumental in CGDent’s formation, and brings considerable experience. I am delighted to welcome them as College Ambassadors and look forward to working with them.”

Ian Mills said:

“I am honoured to be invited to be a College Ambassador. I believe the establishment of the new college was a historic moment for dentistry, building on the fantastic achievements of the FGDP(UK). Dentistry is facing a number of huge challenges at the present time, and there is no doubt that CGDent will play a vital role in leading and supporting the dental profession in the years and decades ahead. The COVID pandemic has demonstrated the importance of collaboration, cooperation and inclusiveness. It is hugely encouraging to see that CGDent has these values at its core as the collegiate home for all members of the dental team.”    

Marie Parker said:

“I’m delighted to be appointed an ambassador for the College of General Dentistry.  The college has, from the start of its journey, ensured that dental nurses, together with all other dental care professionals, have been included in its development.  Now more than ever it is important that the professions come together to overcome current challenges and realise the potential of the dental team. I look forward to working with the college to promote, champion and celebrate the role and importance of dental nurses.”       

Pouya Zohrabpour said:

“The College of General Dentistry will positively influence the careers of many dental professionals, and aid us all in our development. I am excited to have a role in this journey as a College Ambassador, and look forward to helping the college in achieving its goals and visions.”

Previously appointed College Ambassadors include:

  • Dr Louise Belfield, Associate Professor of Biomedical and Oral Health Sciences, Peninsula Dental School
  • Professor Jonathan Cowpe, former Director of Postgraduate Dental Education in Wales
  • Dr Shelagh Farrell, Founder Member of the Faculty of General Dental Practice UK
  • Dr Marina Harris, Senior Lecturer and Periodontology Lead, University of Portsmouth Dental Academy
  • Professor Jacky Hayden CBE, President, Academy of Medical Educators
  • Professor Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief, The Lancet
  • Dame Parveen Kumar DBE, Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Education, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London
  • Professor Jason Leitch CBE, National Clinical Director, Scottish Government
  • Dr Govin Murugachandran, Founder, Flynotes
  • Dr Yewande Oduwole, Associate Dentist
  • Rt Hon Sir Mike Penning, Member of Parliament
  • Dr Wendy Thompson, Lecturer in Primary Dental Care, University of Manchester

New Ambassadors appointed by the College of General Dentistry

The College of General Dentistry is delighted to announce the appointment of two new Ambassadors – Dr Wendy Thompson and Dr Yewande Oduwole.

Those Ambassadors of the College who are dental healthcare professionals are drawn from across the spectrum of dentistry. They support the mission and vision of the College and encourage inclusive professional engagement in the development of the College.  Ambassadors help the College promote dentistry as an important element of general healthcare and wellbeing. Ambassadors support the College’s mission to promote life-long, preventatively orientated, minimum intervention, personalised, holistic dental care. 

More Ambassadors will be appointed in the coming months as the College works towards its historic, formal launch, rescheduled for early 2021, COVID restrictions permitting.

Chair of the College Board of Trustees, Professor Nairn Wilson, said: “I am delighted that both Wendy and Yewande have accepted the invitation to become Ambassadors for the College. With their help and support, it is hoped to engage many more early career members of the dental team in the further development of the College, which, as key elements of its mission, aims to provide all dental healthcare professionals with new leadership and much-needed career pathways. The Board of Trustees looks forward to working with Wendy and Yewande in realising the College goal of being valued by a large diverse, inclusive membership.”

Commenting on her appointment Wendy Thompson said: “The College of General Dentistry is a fantastic opportunity for the dental profession to come together. Together we can speak with one voice for the benefit of patients and dentistry. It is a huge honour to become an Ambassador at this exciting moment in the history of UK dentistry. I look forward to supporting the College as it works towards putting oral health at the heart of the nation’s health.”

Yewande Oduwole said: “I am incredibly honoured to become an Ambassador for the College of General Dentistry. It is paramount that young dental professionals like me have an independent college that focuses on providing us with much-needed leadership and support throughout our careers. This of great importance to the further development of postgraduate training and to the  provision of integrated, holistic team care to meet patients’ needs and expectations.”

Wendy Thompson PhD MFGDP(UK)

Wendy is a National Institute for Health Research Clinical Lecturer in Primary Dental Care at the University of Manchester. She is a general dental practitioner, practising in Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria. Wendy is an honorary consultant to the Office of the Chief Dental Officer (England) and advisor to the FDI World Dental Federation on tackling antibiotic resistance.

As a special advisor to National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (NICE), Wendy has been involved with guideline and quality standard development on antimicrobial stewardship and shared decision making. She is co-chair of the Society for Academic Primary Dental Care’s special interest group on academic primary dental care, a member of the British Dental Association’s Health & Science Committee, a Council member of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and a member of the British National Formulary’s Dental Advisory Group.

Wendy is passionate about equality and diversity across the profession.

Yewande Oduwole BDS

Yewande graduated as a dentist from Peninsula Dental School and is currently completing her Dental Foundation Training.

She was the winner of the 2020 FGDP (UK) Dental Student of the Year Award, which she received for her demonstrable passion for oral health and dentistry. This includes mentoring prospective dental students and the online delivery of oral health advice to the public through her YouTube channel.

Yewande enjoys engaging in community outreach, focusing on oral health promotion in both schools and in her local community. She received a student scholarship from the Afro-Caribbean Dental Association in her third year of dental school. This then led to her embarking on a project in Ghana to provide free dental care and oral health education to communities, schools and orphanages. She has contributed to various articles for Dentistry.co.uk and Young  Dentist Magazine and been a guest on online podcasts.

Yewande has been a student representative for various dental organisations, including the British Dental Association (BDA), British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (BACD), African & Caribbean Dental Association (ACDA-UK) and is currently an Editorial Board Advisory Member for Dentistry Online and a part of the FDGP (UK)/ College of General Dentistry Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Programme Board.

College of General Dentistry appoints new Ambassadors

The College of General Dentistry is delighted to announce the further development of its ‘College Ambassadors’ scheme with the appointment of two new Ambassadors: Professor Jason Leitch CBE and Professor Jacky Hayden CBE.

College Ambassadors are drawn from different backgrounds and walks of life. They support engagement of the College in society, and promote its influence in the interests of patients, building trust and confidence in the College and dental healthcare professionals. Ambassadors help the College ensure dentistry is properly recognised for its importance as an integral element of general healthcare and wellbeing. Ambassadors support the College’s mission to promote preventatively orientated, minimum interventive, patient-centred, longitudinal care. 

More Ambassadors will be appointed in the coming months as the College works towards its historic, formal launch, rescheduled for early 2021, COVID restrictions permitting.

Chair of the College Board of Trustees, Professor Nairn Wilson, said:

“The Board of Trustees of the College is delighted to further develop the College Ambassador scheme with the appointment of Professors Jason Leitch and Jacky Hayden, both of whom have a wealth of experience and expertise. The College greatly looks forward to working with its new Ambassadors in realising its immediate and longer-term goals, including reaching out to all stakeholders, including patients and other healthcare professions, to enhance the effectiveness, standing and status of dentistry.”

Commenting on his appointment Jason Leitch said: “It is a huge honour to be invited to be an Ambassador for the College of General Dentistry. As National Clinical Director of the Scottish Government, the advancement of quality in all areas of healthcare is close to my heart. It is an exciting time for dentistry, and I am delighted to contribute to the initiative to form the College.”

Jacky Hayden said: “I am honoured to accept the invitation to be an ambassador for the College of General Dentistry. General Dentistry has led the way in postgraduate dental education, and it is a tribute to all involved that the aspiration for an independent College is now being realised. Our health care system needs generalists and the special skills that they bring in promoting good health and preventing disease. Congratulations to all involved.”  

Jason Leitch

Professor Jason Leitch CBE

Jason has worked for the Scottish Government since 2007. In January 2015 he was appointed as The National Clinical Director in the Health and Social Care Directorate. He is a Scottish Government Director and a member of the Health and Social Care Management Board. He is one of the senior team responsible for the NHS in Scotland, an Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee, and the 2011 UK Clinician of the Year. 

He is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and a 2005-06 Quality Improvement Fellow at IHI, in Boston, sponsored by the Health Foundation. 

Jason is also a trustee of the UK wing of the Indian Rural Evangelical Fellowship which runs orphanages in southeast India. He has a doctorate from the University of Glasgow, an MPH from Harvard and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.  He is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Jason was appointed to NHS England review group led by Don Berwick looking into the patient safety elements of the Francis Inquiry.

Jacky Hayden

Professor Jacky Hayden CBE

Jacky Hayden is President of the Academy of Medical Educators, a Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent Director at University Hospitals Plymouth, a member of the Medical Tribunal Service Committee and the Suitable Person for the MPTS. She is also an Associate for the General Medical Council and has led quality assurance visits to most parts of the United Kingdom.

Jacky’s clinical background is in general medical practice, she was a partner in Bury, Greater Manchester for thirty years and she was a long-standing member of the Council of the Royal College of General Practitioners. She has always been an advocate of high-quality medical education and after experience as a trainer and then course organiser she was appointed as Regional Adviser in General Practice (1991-1996).

In 1997, she was appointed Postgraduate Dean for the University of Manchester and the North Western Region, a position she held for almost 20 years. She was the first general practitioner to be appointed as a Regional Postgraduate Dean and she led the merger of the two former deaneries in the North West. She has chaired and served on many national committees and working groups including Chair of the Committee of English Deans. She was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Educators in 2011.

Following her retirement as Postgraduate Dean in 2016, she worked for the University of Nicosia Cyprus to establish a postgraduate clinical training programme in Cyprus. Jacky has also championed medical leadership throughout her career: she is a Council member of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management and was awarded foundation senior fellowship of FMLM in 2018. Jacky has been awarded three honorary doctorates: St Georges University of London, Lancaster University and Edge Hill University, and honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. In 2013 she was awarded the CBE for service to medical education.

College of General Dentistry appoints its first Ambassadors

The College of General Dentistry is delighted to announce the launch of its “College Ambassadors” scheme and the appointment of its first Ambassadors – the Rt Hon Sir Mike Penning MP, Professor Dame Parveen Kumar and Dr Shelagh Farrell FFGDP(UK).

College Ambassadors are to be drawn from different backgrounds and walks of life. They will support engagement of the College in society, and promote its influence in the interests of patients, building trust and confidence in the dental profession.

Other Ambassadors will be appointed in the coming weeks, as the College works towards its historic, formal launch later in the year, COVID restrictions permitting. 

Our Ambassadors will help us to ensure dentistry is properly recognised for its importance as an integral element of general healthcare. They will support the College’s mission to develop public confidence in, and appreciation of the benefits of contemporary dentistry and the importance of oral health.

Chair of the College Board of Trustees, Professor Nairn Wilson, said:

“The Board of Trustees of the College is delighted and most grateful to Sir Mike, Dame Parveen and Shelagh Farrell for accepting the invitation to become the first of what is hoped to become a number of high profile, influential Ambassadors from many different backgrounds. The Trustees greatly look forward to working with our Ambassadors in realising the goal of a College which gives general dentistry new leadership, fresh standards, much-needed career pathways and enhanced professional standing in the interests of patients and the public.”

Commenting on his appointment Sir Mike said: “It is a great honour to be asked to be an Ambassador for the College of General Dentistry. We are witnessing technological advances in every area of healthcare and dentistry is no exception, so now is a perfect time to set up a new college to promote excellence and cooperation within the profession for the benefit of dentists and patients alike.”

Dame Parveen said: “’I am absolutely delighted that the College of General Dentistry is being formed and am honoured to be invited to be an Ambassador. Dentistry should take its rightful place with the other healthcare colleges and have a collegiate voice in the health of the nation. I look forward to working with the College.”

Dr Farrell said: “I am delighted to be an ambassador for the new College of General Dentistry. When the FGDP was established in 1992 it was always the ultimate aim to progress the Faculty into an independent College. After 28 years this ambition is being realised – a great achievement for the dental profession.”

Rt Hon Sir Mike Penning MP

Following a career in the army in the Grenadier Guards, as a firefighter in Essex, running a family business and political journalism, Sir Mike entered Parliament as the MP for Hemel Hempstead in 2005. 

He served on the Health Select Committee before being appointed as a Shadow Health Minister. Following the Conservative win in the 2010 general election he was appointed as a junior Minister at the Department for Transport. Subsequent reshuffles saw him serve as a Minister in the Northern Ireland Office, Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office before finally serving as Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence.

He was appointed as a Privy Counsellor in 2014 and knighted for services to politics in 2018.

Professor Dame Parveen Kumar DBE

Parveen is Professor of Medicine and Education at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London. She is a physician and gastroenterologist. She has been President of the British Medical Association, President of the Royal Society of Medicine, President of the Medical Women’s Federation, and Vice President of the Royal College of Physicians, where she also held the roles of Censor, director of Continuing Professional Development and associate International Director for Education. She chaired the Medicines Commission UK, was a founding non-executive Director of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) and chaired the BUPA Foundation for Research. She co-founded and co-edits Kumar and Clark’s Clinical Medicine, now in its 9th edition, a medical textbook used all over the world.

She is currently the President of the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund, chairs the board of Science at the BMA, is on two committees at Genomics England. She is ambassador for the UK Health Alliance for Climate Change. She is on various advisory boards and charities as a trustee (including British Youth Opera, Barts Charity, BMA Foundation). She has championed the role of women in medicine. She has won several prizes and awards and was awarded CBE in 2000 and DBE in 2017.

Dr Shelagh Farrell FFGDP(UK)

Shelagh Farrell was a Board Member of the FGDP(UK) from 1992 until 2017, serving as Vice-Dean on two occasions. Prior to that, she was a member of its precursor, the Advisory Board in General Dental Practice to the FDS (England) from 1982 to 1992, and a member of the FDS Board from 1987 to 1992. In recognition of 35 years’ service to the RCS of England she was presented with the first Faculty Medal of the FGDP(UK) in 2019.

In 1987 Shelagh was the first woman to be elected on to the Council of the BDA and has served as President of both the Western Counties and Southern Counties Branch of the BDA. She was also an elected member of the GDC from 1986-1991 and 1994-2001.

Qualifying in 1971 Shelagh was appointed as a House Officer and Senior House Officer at Bristol Dental Hospital before starting her own practice from scratch on the outskirts of Bristol. The practice expanded and so she took on an associate and a hygienist, and later on an orthodontist. Having studied for her MSc in conservative dentistry at the Eastman Dental Hospital in 1990-91 she became a partner in a multi-disciplinary practice in Reigate, Surrey and in 2000 was entered on to the specialist list of Prosthodontics. Today she is still treating referred patients in removable prosthodontics.