News archive 2007

Professor Bedi appointed Extraordinary Professor in Paediatric Dentistry

Professor Raman Bedi, Director of the Global Child Dental Health Taskforce (GCDHT), has been awarded the honorary chair of Extraordinary Professor in Paediatric Dentistry from the University of the Western Cape, South Africa for a three year period.

The position will involve working with the GCDHT_South Africa taskforce to develop a community programme to improve the oral health of rural Black African children.

The South African child dental health taskforce which is co-chaired by Dr Johan Smit, and Professor Bedi (centre)

Notes to Editors

Global Child Dental Health Taskforce

The establishment of the Global Child Dental Health Taskforce project in 2006 was called for by over 40 senior dental advisors and Chief Dental Officers in September 2005 at the UK European union Presidency meeting in London. The global task force project was consequently established in January 2006 with a five-year grant from the UK government with its mission supported by the World Health Organization.

Ian Cook, Colgate-Palmolive’s Chief Operating Officer, announced on April 21, 2006 at the New York Stock Exchange that the support for the Global Child Dental Health Taskforce project was to be Colgate’s 200th anniversary gift to children worldwide. He pledged 30 million dental health packs to the project over a five year period.

The Global Child Dental Health Taskforce is currently established in India, the Philippines, China, Mexico, Brazil, United States of America, South Africa and Australia / New Zealand. In 2007 Archbishop Desmond Tutu agreed to be the projects inaugural patron.

For more information: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/dentistry/research/gcdht/

King’s College London Dental Institute

King’s College London Dental Institute at Guy's, King's College and St Thomas' Hospitals is the largest dental academic centre in the UK, with over 750 undergraduate dental students, 100 postgraduate taught students and 50 research students. As well as providing both routine and specialist clinical care, it educates and trains dental personnel at all levels including dental care professionals. The Dental Institute's internationally renowned faculty undertake cutting edge basic, clinical and translational research in collaboration with its associate hospitals. The Dental Institute was awarded the maximum 5* research rating grade in the last research assessment exercise and received the top teaching score of 24/24 in its Teaching Quality Assessment.

King's College London

King's College London is the fourth oldest university in England with more than 13,700 undergraduates and nearly 5,600 graduate students in nine schools of study based at five London campuses. It is a member of the Russell Group: a coalition of the UK's major research-based universities. The College has had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level, and it has recently received an excellent result in its audit by the Quality Assurance Agency.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, international relations, medicine and the sciences, and has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe and is home to five Medical Research Council Centres – more than any other university.

King's is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings, with income from grants and contracts of more than £100 million, and has an annual turnover of more than £363 million.

For further information, please contact:
Louise King, Publications and Information Officer, King’s College London Dental Institute
Tel: 020 7188 1881 Email: mailto:louise.king@kcl.ac.uk

Posted on 8 November 2007