August 2010
Postscript from Amsterdam
The ADEE conference covered so many topics of direct relevance to dental education. There were many intense but enthusiastic discussions that took place in the special interest groups. These included Life Long Learning, Assessment and Feedback, Professional Conduct in dental education and Dental Ethics. In fact there are 12 Special Interest groups and they are increasing in number as ADEE is seen as an ideal vehicle for such discussions to take place. We also had some entertaining keynote lectures including Kevin Warwick who presented "Our robotic future", Dr. Amitai Ziv (Israel Center for Medical Simulation) "Simulation in Medical Teaching" and Marc Prensky on "The use of games for learning". Marc was the person who coined the famous phrase "Digital Natives". Throughout the conference, the new dental school at ACTA presented an inspirational backdrop for the delegates.
There was also the time to have fun and the highlight was a reception and dinner in the "De Oude Kerk" (Old Church) in the Red light district. The dinner was served in one of the naves of the church. After the dinner and the speeches, we danced away to the sounds of the Supremes who were not really what they seemed! Only in Amsterdam would such a celebration dinner take place.
So the Birmingham delegation were left wondering on the organisation that will be needed for ADEE when it comes to our city in 2013.
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ADEE Annual meeting and a new dental school at ACTA
Amsterdam has built probably one of the most impressive dental schools in Europe if not the world. The Association for Dental Education in Europe is holding its annual meeting in Amsterdam. It also provides an opportunity to visit the newly opened Dental School at ACTA. It is a building that the Dutch are rightly pleased about and are enjoying showing off to delegates from around Europe. I have enclosed some pictures that I know will be looked at enviously by many delegates who are attending the conference.
Wednesday was the day of the Deans meeting and they were discussing Change Management. Prof Phil Lumley, our Head of School, attended this important and influential gathering of Heads of Dental Schools in Europe. Also the Dental Students are participating in their own conference which takes place before ADEE. Once again there is strong representation from our dental students.
The ADEE conference was opened by the Vice Chancellor of the Free University of Amsterdam and we were treated to keynote lectures on Digital Dentistry. Following this we then had the opportunity to look around the poster presentations and network with other delegates.
July 2010
Here is the picture!
Yesterday Upen and Jyoti got married in Tottenham, London. It was a spectacular wedding and there was a good representation from Birmingham with many past students present for the celebrations. Here is a picture of the happy couple for everyone back at base.
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Another one bites the dust
And so just as Upen thought he was in a very important meeting with Prof White, there was a knock on the door and everyone came in to celebrate his forthcoming Wedding this Sunday. Also there was Martin Ling who was able to give Upen advice on getting married, following his own earlier in the year
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Further Birmingham exploits at Barcelona IADR
The IADR conference in Barcelona has ended and by the time this is read most of the Birmingham researchers will be back home. The conference was a roller coaster with highs and lows. The highs included Zoe Gale winning the MINTIG prize of the Mineralised Tissue Group of the British Society of Oral and Dental Research. Her presentation was “Glial cell line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Regulation of Dental pulp cells “ with supervisors Paul Cooper and Ben Scheven. International success was with Jos Reyes-Silverya who won the Diagnostic Sciences Group of the IADR student prize for her work “Novel method for dental plaque detection based on digital photography” with supervisors Damien Walmsley and Gabriel Landini. Owen Addison is jointly supervising a PhD student, Paul Hooi, with a former colleague Dr Garry Fleming from Dublin. Paul won the IADR Senior Hatton prize, which is an outstanding achievement. Congratulations to all of them.
Over Thursday, Friday and Saturday there was a mix of high quality presentations and posters. The latter were very busy affairs with 3 viewing sessions taking place on the same day. The pictures give a selection of some of the Birmingham researchers standing by their posters.
Barcelona was a lively city and many of us had time to view the streets and examples of the work of the world-renowned architect Gaudi. However there was a darker side and petty theft was commonplace. It also struck the Birmingham party, which took some gloss of what was overall, a successful conference for the School.
For a few Birmingham researchers, Paul Cooper, Tony Smith and Phil Tomson there is still more work to do as they move onto Geneva for the IADR Pulp Biology and Regeneration Group Symposium on Tissue Injury and Pulp Regeneration.
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Barcelona IADR
A busy start to the conference week at Barcelona. Our two final year students (now qualified) gave their presentations for the British Society for Oral and Dental Research. They performed well and we await the result later this week. Zoe Gale gave her presentation to the MINTIG group. She also performed well but we await the result. Paul Cooper picked up his plaque for Young Investigator of the Year and Mohammad Hadis collected his plaque and bouquet of flowers for the IADR/Huraeus Travel Award. There were research presentations by many other Birmingham researchers including Prof Chapple and Mel Grant. A busy day and only just able to keep up with the events. More news later on!
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A very hot day in July
Graduation Day is one of the highlights of the School Calendar and is a day when everyone you meet wears a smile. It is a day when we celebrate the successes of both our undergraduate and postgraduate students. Unlike some previous years, Graduation Day proved to be a hot and humid day so we were pleased that the Great Hall was air-conditioned. The Staff from the Dental School turn out in great numbers for the procession and ceremony, where our students were presented to the Chancellor Sir Dominic Cadbury for their degrees. The School was especially proud that there were 4 PhDs awarded including a joint one with Paris. Dr Stephan Simon flew in from Paris specially to receive his degree. Afterwards it was a race against the law students to get to the library steps for the official photographs. The fun picture is where the students throw their hats into the air at the end.
The School of Dentistry, Prize Giving took place in the afternoon. The Alex MacGregor lecture theatre is not air conditioned so it was a very hot room. Those in suits and gowns were very brave. Lawrence Young, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Head of the College of Medical and Dental Sciences gave out the prizes. During his speech he recited the poem “Invictus” with the message that as new graduates, you are in charge of your own destiny. Professor Lumley gave an overview of the year together with a great cheer and applause when it was announced we were the top school in the Guardian League Table. Following Prize giving there was the traditional Strawberries and Champagne in the Canteen. There was one interesting story where Clare Bolton won the Prize for the greatest contribution made by a graduate to her year. Her Mum had won this previously (a few years ago).
Naturally conversation turned to the forthcoming Graduation Ball on Saturday night……
The GradBall (plus pictures)
The Forest of Arden Hotel provided the backdrop for the Graduation Ball. On a warm and pleasant evening, guests gathered on the Hotel patio to enjoy a champagne reception. There was so much to catch up on from yesterday that it took a while to get everyone inside for the dinner.
As we sat down to eat, Rohin Butani welcomed everyone and thanked the organising committee for all their work in preparing for the evening. Following dinner Prof Chapple gave one of his now famous speeches reminiscing about the final year and wishing them well as they set off on their careers. This was followed by the final year video, filmed, edited and produced by the Smith and Bolton productions.
It said everything that was needed to be said and gave a great review of the Year. Then the dancing began and carried on until the early hours of the morning. Good luck to all our final year and thanks for a great night which will be remembered for a long time to come.
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1995 Reunion Dinner
It was especially pleasing to attend the 1995 reunion dinner held at the Radisson Blu hotel. The year of 1995 had a number of specials associated with it. It was the first year to go through a five year course (i.e. the change from 4.5 years to 5 years). Also the whole year was entered into the final BDS examination and passed on the first sitting .
Each year needs an organiser who cajoles and bullies people into attending the reunion dinner. It is their driving enthusiasm that gets the event moving. The ringleader was Ranjna Sharma who organised the evening and successively got the majority of the year to attend. At these reunion events, people want to see who has changed the most, find out what people are up to and learning about their families etc.
After all the "getting to know you again" discussions, we sat down for dinner and there followed a welcome speech by Ranjna Sharma who was given a bouquet of flowers for all her hard work.
Professor Walmsley delivered a speech that took the audience down memory lane. Part of it focussed on the now closed Parternoster. Using the 1995 yearbook he disclosed who the year would like and not like to be stuck with in the Parternoster. There were some hilarious names mentioned which are best not revealed! There were toasts to absent staff including Prof Anderson who was Head of School and Dr John Rippin who was the Staff President for the year.
The toast was to the Year of 1995 who at the time were “Probably the most successful year ever.”
Then it was time for dancing and more catch up into the early hours.
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June 2010
ORCA / ADEE Conference in Berlin
Berlin is the setting for a workshop on developing a European Curriculum on Cariology which is a joint co-operation between the European Organization for Caries Research (ORCA) and the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE). This workshop follows on from the ADEE Profile and Competences document that was first published in 2005 and updated in 2009. Several specialist groups have got together and put together guidelines for their subject area. Recent conferences have included curricula discussions on the specialities of Implant and Periodontology that have been subsequently published in the European Journal of Dental Education.
The conference venue was the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences situated in the picturesque Gendernmarket area of Berlin. The programme is over three days and intensive presentations and discussions are taking place on an undergraduate profile and competencies document for Cariology. The University of Birmingham provides a strong lead through ADEE in the discussions the Profile and Competences through Europe and was represented at the conference.
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England vs Germany (post script)
So Germany win and go onto meet Argentina and the England team fly home. Well done to Thomas Dietrich and thankfully I am not around to see the big grin on his face.
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Professor Dietrich and Professor Walmsley have offices opposite each other but Sunday will be a big test for both of them. So may the best team win. (that will be England - Prof W no that will be Germany - Prof D).
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Longest Day
Today is going to be the longest day of the year and it looks like it will be a good one. Here are some pictures of the start of the day to cheer you up on this Monday morning.
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Birmingham is top of the league - yet again on the Guardian league tables. It is just such a great place to study dentistry and our students agree!!
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Reunion at Birmingham
Over 500 alumni attended the annual anniversary reunion last Saturday for a day of reminiscing and meeting up with friends. More Dentistry alumni than ever attended –and one lady travelled all the way from Ghana to be there on the day! They were given fascinating talks by Don Spence and Deborah White about what it’s like to study Dentistry now before having lunch, listening to a panel discussion and touring parts of the campus! The picture shows Dentistry and Medicine alumni standing on the steps of the medical School building.
Michelle Dolphin
College Alumni Relations Manager for the College of Medical and Dental Sciences
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InterNoise2010
Just a wish you were here note from Lisbon. YourBlogger is at the 39th Internoise conference and presenting an invited paper in the Ultrasound and Healthcare section. This is a very different conference with subjects ranging from aircraft noise and vibration to how roads cause problems to cars. There are also presentations on various aspects of human health related to noise and vibration. Lisbon is a pretty city but it is better to be in the air conditioning of the conference centre rather than the heat in the middle of day. Thanks to Simon Lea and Phil Lumley for their help with the paper. Also my collaborator on EPSRC grants is here as well so there is an opportunity (not usually found when in the UK) to catch up on papers etc.
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60 not out!
Congratulations to Jan Clement who will be 60 this weekend. Jan is our star radiography teacher and congratulations from the School of Dentistry.
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Around the World
Around the World was this year’s theme for the outing to Stratford-upon-Avon. The tour of the town has become the annual party to celebrate the Final years passing their examinations and for all years to party.
There were five buses taking students to the town and all were armed with a map of which places to visit. Each of the hostelries became packed to the timbers with students. At 10.30pm the students were bused out and Stratford breathed a sigh of relief. The evening was good natured and fun. There were all places of the world represented inspired by the forthcoming World Cup.
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It is all quiet now....
but yesterday this notice board was a hive of activity. At around 6pm Professor Lumley, Head of the School of Dentistry, put up the list of successful candidates for the final examination. There were tears of joy, lots of shouting, hugging and handshakes as people realised that after 5 years they had passed their final examination and were now ready to become dentists. There were a few sad faces but the majority of our students passed. It is always exciting as teachers of our students to see them pass and move on. Now the notice board is back to being are area that people pass by and do not realise the emotions that occurred for a short period of time yesterday. So just to say
CONGRATULATIONS to the year of 2010
from everyone at the School of Dentistry
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Hope you have been having a good weekend - Jennifer Man, Stephanie Krifka and I completed the 8.5 mile Great Midlands Fun Run today and raised nearly £200 for charity!
Upen Patel
May 2010
Prof Chapple writes
"Martin Ling has had a successful year so far in competitive grant applications to support his PhD and other studies he is involved in. In August 2009 he was awarded a grant for £6,273 from the Oral and Dental Research Trust for a project entitled “Pro-inflammatory cytokine production by neutrophils in periodontitis patients”. In May 2010 he was also successful in winning the British Society of Periodontology Research Grant for a project entitled “C-Reactive Protein Modulation of peripheral blood neutrophil responses” - £4,444. Finally in May 2010 also, he won a Faculty of Dental Surgery Small Research Grant of £9,200 for a project entitled “Neutrophil extracellular traps in inflammatory periodontal disease”.
Well done Martin on a successful academic year - now the work has to get done!!
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Calling all Dentistry alumni- please update your details
The first-ever edition of Dental Roots is due out soon- a magazine featuring the latest news from the School of Dentistry and updates on alumni news and events specifically for Dentistry alumni! The Magazine will be posted to your home address in early July. We really want to make sure you receive it and so if you haven't already updated your details, please send your latest details to Michelle Morgan, Alumni Relations Manager at m.morgan@bham.ac.uk. We hope you enjoy the publication and we look forward to your feedback.
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BDH had got talent
I am handing over to Upen Patel for the words and Steve Duttine from Clinical Illustration for the pictures
Upen writes
This year’s greatly anticipated BDH Got Talent show took place in the School of Dentistry's Alex McGregor Theatre. Iain Chapple was compère for the evening and presented a great show to a packed out audience. He started in the usually fashion with his introduction of the judges which this year were David Attrill, Thomas Dietrich, Wendy Harley, Naveen Karir and John Hamburger. The judges critiques were both ruthless and benevolent – with some getting quite personal! On the whole they provided great entertainment.
The performances this year ranged from vocal, instrumental and a skit with imitations of members of staff. All performances of the evening were of the highest quality however the overall winner of the night decided by keypad vote from the audience was Priya Shah on vocals and Vicky Brown on the piano with their rendition of Empire State of Mind. They received a standing ovation and even had a few members of the audience singing along.
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BDA Conference Blog
Just to give all of you an update on the BDA conference held in Liverpool. It has not only been the weather that is hot and sunny here but this conference has featured several speakers from Birmingham Dental School. On Friday Louis MacKenzie spoke on "Direct posterior composites: a practical guide" and on Saturday Dominic Stewardson gave a presentation "Dental Practice Research - what's in it for me".
There was light relief provided by Dr Phil Hammond who opened the conference. Whilst he is definitely a humorous guy he is very thoughtful and understands the pressures placed on the medical and dental professions. His talk ranged from what happens in the doctors surgeries when interacting with patients to a serious message of combining forces with Medics to meet the expectations of governments and patients.
The conference covered a wide range of subjects from occlusion to composite, from infection control to medical emergencies. All were of a high quality. The Liverpool conference centre is next to Albert Dock and in a picturesque setting. The centre is easy to negotiate and access to all the rooms is easy.
The conference was also an unofficial reunion of VDP's which included many of our ex students as the picture shows. The highlight of the social programme was to be treated by a performance form the Bootleg Beatles still going strong on those memorable songs!
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TOP OF THE POPS
It has been a long time coming but the School of Dentistry has reached the dizzy heights of the number one. Yes we are the joint top School to study dentistry on results based on student satisfaction, research performance, entry requirements and graduate prospects. Congratulations to all the staff and students at the school for their hard work in achieving this result.
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Dr Milward - I presume!
Here is a picture of Mike Milward who successfully defended his PhD on Friday. Well done Mike from all at the School of Dentistry.
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IT'S BACK !
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Visit of Chief Executive of the British Dental Association
The School was delighted to host a lecture from Peter Ward, Chief Executive of the BDA, who visited Birmingham Dental School to discuss how to "take control of your destiny". Peter gave a talk about the future of dentistry, and the challenges and opportunities this presents to dental students. In the lecture the students learnt about how the UK Dental market, patients and the profession is changing and what this means for them. Many students asked questions of Peter after the lecture and then this was followed by a student favourite - Free pizza!
The picture shows Prof Deborah White and Philip Lumley with Peter before the lecture.
......and talking of Professor White
The British Society for Disability and Oral Health (BSDH) Spring Teachers' meeting was held on Thursday at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. This was an opportunity for teachers from across the UK to share developments in Special Care Dentistry curricula. Professor Deborah White gave a presentation entitled 'Disability Teaching - changing the focus' which highlighted the recent successful partnership venture with Lufton and Hereward Colleges.
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There have been several mentions on the Blog about the successful work that Professor White is undertaking in this area. The conference delegates were impressed with the presentation and it provided much discussion how this important subject is implemented in the undergraduate curriculum.
Salvete and Valete
The School has some changes in personnel. First off Jack Ferracane comes to the end of his sabbatical and will be returning to Portland, Oregon, USA. It is sad to see Jack go as he has been a real friend to many of us in the school. He has been immersed in various research projects taking place within the building influencing many of our views and debating current concepts and techniques in dentistry. Many of us look forward to seeing the fruits of this work published in future journals. Jack has certainly been a great influence on the research ethos within the school and it has been a real pleasure having him on the staff over the last year. Good luck in all your future endeavours from all the staff in the School. The picture shows Ben Scheven and Jack on the occasion of his last lecture/seminar t the School. He took the opportunity to lead a seminar, with a discussion, about ethical issues in biomedical research. This was part of his requirement for the fellowship grant that brought him over to Birmingham. It was a thought provoking day and one appreciated by staff and postgraduate students.
We say goodbye to Mike Roberts who gave us fantastic assistance over the last year in our IT provision in the building. Mike was a popular figure as he made sure all our computers were up to date and talking properly to us. Here we have a picture of Damien Walmsley presenting Mike with a token of the School’s gratitude for all his help.
And on the IT front, we welcome Mark Smith who is joining us from Cancer Studies . Mark has a previous background of IT in education and will be taking us forward in our various IT projects in the building. Such an appointment underlies our strong and innovative approach to IT at Birmingham Dental School.
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British Society of Periodontology Spring Meeting 2010
The British Society of Periodontology Diamond Jubilee Spring Meeting was held in Brighton on the 26th and 27th April and was attended by many staff of the Department of Periodontology including Mike Milward, Paul Weston and Martin Ling. The conference title was “20 Years of Periodontal Regeneration, Where are we now?” and including a number of international speakers including Dr’s McCulloch, Cortellini and Bosshardt and Professor’s Trombelli, Giannobile and Palmer. There was also a parallel session titled “Practical Periodontal Maintenance for the Dental Team” led by Ms Jackson, Dr Ower, Mrs Suvan and Professor Heasman. The President of the BSP Professor Hughes also organised a conference dinner and dance at the Hilton Brighton Metropole Hotel which was well attended and allowed friends and colleagues to catch up after a busy day of lectures.
April 2010
Prof Chapple in Phoenix
Iain Chapple made a whistle stop tour of Arizona (Phoenix) and LA (Anaheim) between Thursday and Tuesday. On Friday he spoke to 5000 at a business meeting for one of the group’s research sponsors. You can see the stage was set up for a Rock Star performance, with a huge back stage area with “groupies”. It seems that the Americans treat science like music!!
Iain then spoke at the American Neutraceutical Associations CME day for Physicians, and was honoured to share the stage with a giant of experimental biology Prof Helmut Sies. Prof Sies (pictured here with Iain & colleagues) is part of the Council for Lindau Nobel Laureates meetings and is an iconic figure. Iain tells me that he drinks a mean Margarita at lunchtime (see photo). Finally, Iain headed to LA to the Experimental Biology congress in Anaheim, along with 12,000 other delegates, to present research on the impact of nutritional modulation of healing after periodontal therapy. He was whisked by an all expenses paid limousine back to LA airport where the volcanic dust permitted him to return to the UK and back to reality!
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Promotion News
Congratulations to Kirsty Hill who has been promoted to Senior Lecturer in this year's round of promotions. Kirsty joined the school in 1999 from Manchester Dental School where she got her PhD in Psychology related to dentistry. Kirsty is in Chief Elective Co-ordinator, Module lead of year 1 & 2, Behavioural Sciences and Hygiene and therapy, Dentistry in Society. Her research is in the area of Anxiety, stress, and dental public health issue. Kirsty is currently working on the Adult Dental Health Survey. Kirsty has been Staff President of BUDSS and is actively involved in student activities.
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Something for the Weekend
While you are sitting out in the Garden enjoying that long cool drink then spare a thought for Azim Malik, one of our 4th year dental students who has informed us that he’s recently become the holder of a world record for breaking biscuits with his shoulder blades!
The proof of this is shown on an overseas web site and it does look rather painful but rest assured he is still around on the dental course. This rather unique talent that he possesses does not have much usefulness in a dental course unless you know otherwise. Have a great weekend and enjoy what is going to be the hottest day of the year.
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MDS Research and Enterprise Research Gala
The MDS Research and Enterprise Gala was held over the last two days at the Medical School and was a very successful event. The School of Dentistry featured highly and we would like to thank all the people who took part in presenting their work either as a presentation or a poster. It was a great networking exercise and for Dentistry it was an ideal medium to show the rest of the College what research was taking place in the school. We would also like to thank all the support staff throughout the school who made this possible from Supervisors of the students to people working in the laboratories. In particular to Jan Poller for cajoling the students to present and also to Mike and Marina for handling the unprecedented request for posters.
All the hard work was worth it and we enjoyed success as follows: -
Gareth Wynn-Jones - 3rd Prize in Doctoral Researcher Presentations
Phil Tomson - Runner up and Highly Commended in the Poster presentations
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It is only right to highlight and congratulate all the people who took part in the Research Gala on behalf of the School and these are highlighted below
Presenters
Section area - School Research Activity
Professor Iain Chapple - Inflammatory Periodontitis: a model disease for research into infection and immunity
Section area - Early Career Research: Some Key Themes and Rising Stars
Dr Paul Cooper - Oral and Dental Disease and Regeneration
Dr Owen Addison - From teeth to titanium: a journey into clinical academia
Section area - Doctoral Researcher Presentations
Gareth Wynn-Jones -
James Smith - Effects of extracellular matrix on pulp cell behaviour
Poster participants
Mary Bussell - The effect of alveolar-decortication on the velocity of tooth movement
Kris Coomarasamy - Effect of Cement Paste Dilution on the Radiopacity of MTA
Zoe Gale - Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor regulation of dental pulp cells
Ektor Grammatopoulos - A study of the effects of playing a wind instrument on the occlusion
Mohammed Hadis - Real Time Optical and Physical Curing Characteristics of Dental Resins
Naresh Hindu - Strain rate dependence of polymeric resin based dental composites
Sonam Kalra - The Impact of Titanium Accumulation on Peri-Prosthetic Soft Tissue Outcomes
Erum Khan - Architectural characterization of organotypic cultures of H400 keratinocytes on de-epidermalised dermis
Amal Linjawi - Encouraging reflective learning using online discussion board in dental education
Louise Mangnall - An investigation into the pain of debonding orthodontic fixed appliances
Phil Tomson - Hepatocyte Growth Factor Promotes Mineralisation in Dental Pulp Cells
Sheena Kotecha - The impact of hypodontia on the quality of life of children
Jennifer Man - Scratch Wound Healing in Response to Ultrasound in Bone and Tooth Cell Cultures
Mike Milward - Antioxidant modulation of oral keratinocyte response to periodontal pathogens’
Lisa Palmer - Potential role of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in pathogenesis of periodontitis
Upen Patel - Travelling Ultrasound: an experimental setup
Jigar Patel - Bond strength and remineralisation potential of a newly developed orthodontic adhesive
Jos Reyes - A novel method for dental plaque detection based on digital photography
Liz Richardson - In vitro investigation into bond strength of metal and ceramic brackets and enamel surface damage on debonding
It was a real pleasure to see the School perform so well and we look forward to our participation in the next Research Gala in 2011
With best wishes
Damien Walmsley
Chair of the organising committee for the MDS Research and Enterprise Research Gala
Tony Smith
Director of Research
Philip Lumley
Head of School
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More Cheese please
The Annual Cheese and Wine was held in the Dental School Canteen. It was well organised by Jags and his committee and there was a packed house of Students, Staff, Senior House Officers and Nurses. There were both dental and general knowledge rounds which tested everyone's little grey cells.
The sound round was different this year with TV shows and Soundbites of famous people. There was a tie between the Staff, Final Years and 4th Years. The final event was the first to eat 5 crackers which was a real challenge and whilst Kris Coomer was trying hard it was a close run contest between Amarpreet Bal and Preeyan Patel. After a short rest, Amarpreet just beat Preeyan to win a tray of Cream Cup Cakes. The quizmaster was Prof Walmsley and David Attrill gave the vote of thanks. A great night!
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Three Professors
No it is not the three tenors but three Professors wandering around the Halls of Residence at Sheffield late at night. What are they doing here? Stay tuned for more postings.
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More Birthdays
Congratulations to Dr John Matthews who celebrated his 60th birthday. Here we see him cutting his cake as Iain Chapple looks on.
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Tony Smith Appreciation
Tony Smith stands down after serving as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Dental Research for the last 6 years. Tony is the first editor of the Journal from outside North America since its initiation in 1919. During his tenure of the position, the Journal has undergone a number of changes including incorporation of Critical Reviews in Oral Biology & Medicine, inclusion of an attractive cover design, adoption of the DC Principles of Open Access, provision of on-line access to the Journal for all IADR members ensuring a very broad readership and publication of all of the Journal’s archives on-line back to volume 1, issue 1 in 1919. The Journal currently has the leading 5 year impact factor and Eigenfactor amongst the dentistry journals and Tony’s editorship follows the strong tradition of involvement of academic staff at Birmingham as editors and associate editors of several leading journals in the field.
There was another milestone for Tony held at the School and this was the occasion of his 60th Birthday. I love the cake as well!
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News Catch Up
Hope you all had a good Easter break and looking forward to the Summer. This week is quiet as the Students are on holiday so it gives me some time to play catch up. Kris Coomer has started up a School and Hospital Staff Club which will be a meeting held after work at that popular restaurant La Bastille (still known as Michelles by the locals). Here is a report of the first meeting by Kris.
‘The Staff Club’, a monthly event for staff of Birmingham Dental School and Hospital plus the Children’s Hospital to meet over post-work drinks, met for the first time this month. It turned out to be an excellent evening and a great success. A good turnout of staff from BDH and BCH attended and all enjoyed the free food put out by the restaurant/bar. ‘The Staff Club’ will be held on the last Thursday of every month, and hosted by La Bastille (220 Corporation Street, Birmingham). All are welcome for the next post-work drinks night on Thursday 29 April.
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New Shoes make Lumley faster.
There are a new pair of shoes on the market that have come out just in time to beat the forthcoming rail strike. They are called Ekin shoes and enable the runner to reach the legal speed limit. Phil Lumley wasted no time in testing out the new shoes this morning on the Bristol Road between his house and the dental school. Once he got used to them he found that he was able to reach speeds of 38 mph. One drawback was that he did find that his socks got rather warm as the top speed was reached.
So if you find the drudgery of the traffic jam too much, try the new Ekin shoe and beat the queue.
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