In September, I stepped into a new role as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Collaboration) and away from my position as Head of School.
Leaving a role that I’ve cherished deeply and a place that has felt like home, is not easy. I look back on the past four and a half years with immense pride in our collective accomplishments — and they have been collective accomplishments. From increasing promotions year on year at all levels and wider research grant success, especially with Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), to strengthening our foundation and elevating our world rankings, from redesigning our curriculum and navigating challenges of COVID-19, to developing a governance structure that aligns with the Faculty, it has been an extraordinary journey.
I sincerely thank each and every one of you for placing your trust in me as your Head of School. Though my role is evolving, my commitment to Melbourne Dental School and this Faculty remains steadfast.
Throughout my academic career, I have been an interdisciplinary researcher, working with engineers, cell biologists, pharmacists, medics, nurses, dentists and ethicists. Tissue engineering and regenerative biology is a truly collaborative field.
While I now have a new focus, my entire career has been within dental and oral health and my research group remains in Melbourne Dental Professor Alastair J Sloan, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Collaboration) School.
Before becoming Head of Melbourne Dental School in 2020, and before my role as Dean of the School of Dentistry at Cardiff University, I was Director of the Cardiff Institute for Tissue Engineering and Repair — an interdisciplinary research institute — and I am very excited to return to the world of broad research, collaboration, building networks and helping people take their research into wide domains and have impact.
In this new role I will provide academic leadership in designing and guiding the implementation of collaborative arrangements with organisations that enhance the University’s ability to sustain research quality and impact. I will also be responsible for strategic leadership of how the whole University grows its collaborative and interdisciplinary research, building long-term sustainable partnerships with academia, industry, commercial companies and the not-for-profit sector across Victoria, Australia and globally. This includes harnessing and implementing research collaborations and governance arrangements involving the University’s research precincts — covering organisations across the Biomedical precinct, Melbourne Connect, Fishermans Bend, Southbank, and the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery.
The University is supporting its people to realise the impact of their research by driving that research forward and getting it out into the real world.
I am honoured to be Vice-President of the International Association for Dental Research Australia and New Zealand Division, and having had 15 years of senior executive leadership in dental schools, I remain passionate about dental and oral health research and education, and always will be.
I am proud of a number of achievements within Melbourne Dental School during my time as Head of School. We have seen a 55 to 60 per cent increase in the number of successful promotions of women across the school. In 2023, Rita Hardiman (BSc Hons 1998, PhD 2010, GCertUniTeach 2018), now Interim Head of School; Samantha Byrne (PhD 2007, GCertUniTeach 2009), Director of Students and Education; Clare McNally (GCertUniTeach), Academic Lead for Assessment and Evaluation; and Catherine Butler (BSc 1989, BSc Hons 1993, PhD 2001) were all promoted to Associate Professor. Along with Dr Tami Yap (BDSc Hons 2006, DCD 2019, PhD 2019, GCertUniTeach 2021), a Senior Lecturer in Oral Medicine and Oral Pathology and Impact Lead for the School, and Dr Mihiri Silva (BDSc 2004, MDSc 2012, DCD 2013, PhD 2019), Senior Lecturer in Paediatric Dentistry, Director of Graduate Research, and recently appointed Interim Director of Research, these women are role models for others coming through the School.
This year our School was placed in the top 25 in the QS World University Rankings for dentistry and we have also returned to our position as Australia’s leading dental school. We have been more open about the breadth and quality of our work and promoted our research widely and we need to stay on that trajectory.
It has been hugely rewarding to witness some great examples of high-impact and translational research, such as Associate Professor Roy Judge’s (MDSc 1997, PhD 2006) Rectangular Block Implant (RBI). Associate Professor Judge, Head of Prosthodontics, has a strong and diverse team of researchers, clinicians, bioscientists, microbiologists and material scientists supporting the development of the RBI and implant research generally. Very quickly, they have taken the RBI concept from the lab into clinic and discussions with industry.
Similarly, Dr Leanne Teoh’s (BDSc 2008, PhD 2021) MIMS Drugs4dent® medicine management and prescribing tool is one of the most innovative pieces of work I’ve seen in the past 20 years. Dr Teoh has taken her PhD project, identified a gap in the market and transformed her PhD research into a licensed product — I’ve not witnessed that rapid translation of research in my career before. It has been a pleasure to see Dr Teoh’s groundbreaking success.
Dr Tami Yap received a Dean’s Innovation Grant to help progress her MouthMap project, a digitally annotated screening tool that catches oral cancer in its early stages by monitoring changes in the mucosal tissues in the mouth. Dr Yap has grasped the translational impact agenda for the School with both hands, and her work and leadership in this space moves forward in leaps and bounds.
The School’s recent collaboration with Southern Dental Industries (SDI), a locally based specialist dental materials company that sells to more than 100 countries, is a cracking example of the impacts that emerge when you bring together business development partners and different faculties —Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences (MDHS) and Engineering and Information Technology with industry and support creative thinking. In the past six to 12 months, we have enjoyed focused discussions about future research projects, resulting in a number of innovative grants, PhDs and PhD scholarships, and the Business Development Partners from both faculties have worked together and with our researchers and industry partner to support these conversations and exciting proposals.
This year the School welcomed back Associate Professor Matt Hopcraft (BDSc 1994, MDSc 2000, PhD 2010) to the academic staff. We have also been able to attract Associate Professor Khaled Ahmed to Melbourne and both have taken on key leadership roles in the School. Their experience will help the School continue to develop.
I congratulate Associate Professor Rita Hardiman on her appointment as Interim Head of School. Rita is very much a leader who understands Melbourne Dental School and who is regarded with the greatest respect across the University. She is someone who trusts her instincts and her team and she will ensure the School grasps the opportunities arising from the University Research Strategy refresh. The School is in a strong position and will continue to look forward and be bold.
Finally, I thank all staff in the school and our alumni for their trust in me. It has been a genuine privilege to be the head of MDS. I won’t be too far away and look forward to continuing to work with many of you!
Thank you
Professor Alastair J Sloan
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Collaboration)