Annual Dental Alumni Association weekend takes place in London

The prestigious event hosted current and former staff and students, offering opportunities to meet and network during a two-day program in March 2023.

Spanning two days, the prestigious program included the Annual Dinner on Friday, March 3, and Clinical Day on Saturday, March 4. This event offered a valuable opportunity for current and former staff and students to connect while showcasing high-caliber presentations in clinical dentistry from both internal and external speakers.

It has been an honour to act as President of the Dental Alumni this last 2 years. My thanks to all the speakers at Clinical Day for delivering such a high quality, fascinating and wide ranging programme.

Francis Hughes, outgoing DAA President

Alumni Dinner – March 3 2023

This year’s Alumni Dinner took place at The Tower Hotel, offering stunning views of London Bridge. The evening featured a drinks reception, dinner, and a performance by KCL Bhangra.

Although Dental Alumni Association President Professor Francis Hughes was unable to attend due to recovering from illness, his efforts, alongside the wonderful Agnes Kwong from the Alumni office, contributed to the evening’s success. Alumni from King’s ’82, Guy’s ’91, ’97, and ’98 were in attendance, and a group of fourth-year students kindly helped with raffle ticket sales and mingling warmly with the guests.

The prestigious alumni awards were awarded by Prof Stephen Challacombe:

• The award of Alumnus of the Year, 2023 was posthumously given to Professor John Radford, and was accepted by his brother, Dr. David Radford, and his son, Thomas Radford. They gave speeches of thanks acknowledging what a great man Prof John Radford had been and thanked the Alumni Association for the recognition of this. Members of the class of ’91 were especially touched, as they had been his students in Phantom head in ’88 and felt indebted to him.
• The Distinguished Service Award for 2023 was presented to Dr. Lyndon Cabot, marking the second time he has received this prestigious honor.

Clinical Day – March 4

Clinical Day took place in the Tower Lecture Theatre at Guy’s Tower, with Professor Francis Hughes hosting.

The lecture program was kicked off by Professor Jonathan Shepherd, an alumnus of KCSMD and the winner of 2021 Alumnus of the Year award. He delivered the Rod Cawson Lecture on “Violence Prevention: Evidence-Informed Alternatives to ‘A Tooth for a Tooth'”. A clinical academic who qualified from KCSMS fifty years ago, Professor Shepherd has had a distinguished career in trauma research, influencing policy, and delivering primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention.

This was followed by fascinating presentations, including Nima Kassenpour’s talk on providing care to people in Sierra Leone, and Khaleda Zaheer’s experience working with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

A mini symposium was then held by staff and alumni on making dentistry more sustainable. It was inspiring to hear about the entrepreneurial actions from our alumni, Davinder Raju and Simon Chard.

The day concluded with the Walter Herbert Lecture, delivered by Dr. Saoirse O’Toole on “Monitoring Intraoral Change Using Digital Scanners” — an enlightening lecture that we look forward to hearing more about in future.

I am proud to be an alumna of both UMDS and King’s. I feel incredibly privileged to have become President of the Alumni Association; thank you for this opportunity. I hope to inspire and attract many more alumni to become active members of this amazing community; Dare Quam Accipere!

Charlie Spedding, DAA president Elect

At the end of the Annual General Meeting, the presidency was passed on to Charlie Spedding.

After the Dean’s lunch, attendees had the opportunity to participate in tours of the clinical and simulation teaching facilities, which included hands-on demonstrations. The alumni were highly impressed by the technology, expertly showcased by Dr. Melanie Nasseripour.

The alumni event continues to provide an invaluable opportunity for alumni to enjoy the company of a wide range of friends and colleagues and learn about developments within the faculty and oral health care.

Professor Michael Escudier, Executive Dean, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences

The organisers would like to extend their gratitude to everyone who participated in and attended this successful event. They look forward to welcoming everyone back for the 2024 event, scheduled for Friday, March 1st, and Saturday, March 2nd.

Sources:

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/annual-dental-alumni-association-weekend-takes-place-in-london