Our Members
The Australasian Council of Dental Schools is the peak body comprising the heads of all education providers in the dentistry and oral health professions across Australasia.
Ms Karen Lansdown – ACODS Director
Karen Lansdown is Head of Department Oral Health at Auckland University of Technology. In her role with Health Sciences Karen oversees the undergraduate and postgraduate programs and is responsible for strategic planning in oral health.
As an oral health therapist with adult scope restorative and postgraduate qualifications in education, Karen has had seventeen years of clinical and eleven years teaching experience. Her teaching philosophy ‘is to make the mundane extraordinary and simplify the complex’. She contributes to the development of educational strategies, consistency of practice, alignment of polices, and procedures ensuring high quality outcomes for students. Her success in transformative teaching has been recognized internationally as a fellow and assessor of the Higher Education Academy UK and through faculty and Vice-Chancellor’s teaching awards.
Karen has been involved in various committees, working groups and a School, Faculty and University level including the Faculty Board, Advisory Groups, Collaborative Health Education Sydney Community of Practice (interprofessional learning) and designing university graduate quality rubrics.
Currently Karen is working towards her PhD titled, The Oral Health Priorities for people with Cerebral Palsy and received over $105,000 in competitive grants. She has presented her research at both national and international levels, is a masters supervisors and peer reviewer for three international journals internationally and across Australasia.
Karen has been actively involved in Health Promotion including the Wingara Mura-Bunga Barrabugu Summer Program, Sydney Homeless Connect and partnership between the Carevan Sunsmiles Program at the University of Sydney designed to raise awareness for ‘poverty reduction and sustainable development’. In 2017 this program received an international award for social responsibility on behalf of The Global Child Dental fund.
Prior to commencing her academic role, Karen worked as an Oral Health Therapist (OHT) in South Australia in both the private and public sectors. In the public sector, Karen worked as an OHT in a country town of Adelaide and was involved in the provision of dental services for the South Australian Dental Service (SADS). In her role with the SADS, Karen implemented a program for the provision of dental services to incarcerated youth. In the private sector, Karen worked as an OHT for a general and specialist periodontal practice with a focus on education, prevention, and the treatment of periodontal disease.
Central Queensland University
Ms Karen Smart
Head of Course and Lecturer in Advanced Clinical Practice (Oral Health)
School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences.
Karen Smart is the Head of Course for the Bachelor of Oral Health and the Certificate III and IV in Dental Assisting at CQUniversity, Rockhampton. She also serves as a Lecturer in Advanced Clinical Practice (Oral Health), bringing over 25 years of experience as an Oral Health Therapist, complemented by postgraduate qualifications in clinical teaching.
Karen’s career spans both public and private sectors across rural and remote Queensland, enriching her understanding of diverse community needs. For the past decade, she has been committed to tertiary education, shaping future oral health professionals through her teaching and mentorship. In addition to her academic roles, Karen contributes to several oral health program advisory groups and serves on the editorial board of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Dental and Oral Health Therapy (ANZJDOHT).
Her professional passion lies in promoting oral health as a vital component of overall well-being. She actively advocates for interprofessional collaboration, the development of work-based assessment tools, and the integration of ePortfolios in oral health education. Karen is dedicated to fostering sustainable and rewarding career pathways for dental professionals.
James Cook University
Professor Peter Thomson
Head of Dentistry and Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Sciences
Peter Thomson is Head of Dentistry and Professor of Oral & Maxillofacial Sciences in the College of Medicine & Dentistry.
A UK and Australian specialist in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and Oral Medicine, he qualified BDS from Manchester University and MBBS from Newcastle upon Tyne, gaining Fellowships in Dental Surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Ireland and Glasgow and a Fellowship in Surgery from Edinburgh, specializing in Head & Neck Oncology. He completed MSc and PhD degrees in epithelial biology and cancer research at Manchester University, where he was Lecturer, before returning to Newcastle in 1996 as Professor of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery.
In 2009, he was appointed Hunterian Professor at the Royal College of Surgeons of England and in 2011 King James IV Professor at the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh. In 2014, he gained a Manchester Higher Doctorate (DDSc) for oral oncology research, and in 2016 an MD from the University of Bath for his thesis on interventional management of oral potentially malignant disorders. In 2016 he joined the University of Queensland’s School of Dentistry as Professor of Maxillofacial Surgery & Academic Clinical Director, before moving to The University of Hong Kong in October 2017 to become Associate Dean at the Faculty of Dentistry and Director of the Prince Philip Dental Hospital. . In 2021 he joined James Cook University as Head of Dentistry and Professor of Oral & Maxillofacial Sciences.
Author of more than 300 research papers and 2 oral cancer textbooks, Peter is an internationally recognised authority in oncology, with a particular emphasis on oral carcinogenesis, epithelial cell biology, early diagnosis and interventional management of potentially malignant disease and the prevention of cancer.
Griffith University
Professor Donald Chi
Dean of Dentistry
Professor Donald L. Chi, DDS, PhD, is Dean of Dentistry in the School of Medicine and Dentistry. He is U.S. board certified in dental public health and paediatric dentistry. His program of research focuses on children’s oral health inequities.
The University of Melbourne
Professor Petros Papagerakis
The University of Newcastle
Professor Dileep Sharma
Head of Discipline Oral Health, School of Health Sciences
Professor Dileep Sharma is Head of Discipline, Oral Health at School of Health Sciences, College of Health, Medicine & Wellbeing at the University of Newcastle. Dileep brings a wealth of teaching experience within sixteen years as health professional and clinical educator across Asia, Africa and Australia.
Dileep commenced his leadership role at the University of Newcastle after previously holding the role of Senior lecturer (2016-2022) and Associate Professor in Periodontics (2022) at the College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University (JCU).
Dileep has been very passionate and successful undergraduate research coordinator in his role at JCU as evidenced by student achievements including multiple conference prizes and publications in peer-reviewed journals under his mentorship. Additionally, he has published over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and invited conference presentations on dental materials and oral cancer prevalence in Australia. Recently, his research team was awarded the Clarks Family Award for Sustainable Dental Materials research by Australian Dental Research Foundation and the 2022 ANZ Joan Chong Award in Dental Materials by the International Association for Dental Research.
Additionally, Dileep has extensive experience as principal and co-investigator for various externally funded research projects with various funders including Australian Dental Research Foundation and Tropical Australian Academic Health Centre, Australia.
The University of Queensland
Professor Sašo Ivanovski – ACODS Director
BDSc(Hons), BDentSt, MDSc(Perio), PhD, FICD, FADI, FPFA
Professor Sašo Ivanovski is the Head of School at the University of Queensland School of Dentistry, and a practicing specialist periodontist. He graduated as a dentist from the University of Queensland in 1993, followed by a PhD in 2020 and specialist periodontist training in 2002, also from UQ. He was a Senior Lecturer and National Health & Medical Research Training Fellow at UQ between 2003-2006 and the foundation Chair of Periodontology at Griffith University between 2006 and 2017. He is an accomplished clinician-scientist who has published over 300 papers in the peer-reviewed literature and leads an internationally recognized research center (COR3: https://dentistry.uq.edu.au/research/cor3) with a focus on oro-dental regeneration and tissue engineering, as well as clinical periodontics and implant dentistry.
Professor Ivanovski is a Fellow of the International College of Dentists (FICD), Academy of Dentistry International (FADI), Pierre Fauchard Academy (FPFA), and a Senior Fellow of the International Team of Implantology (ITI). He sits on the Board of the Osteology Foundation, Australian Periodontal Research Foundation and the ITI Research Committee. He has also served as federal president of the Australasian Osseointegration Society (AOS), the Australian Society of Periodontology (ASP) and the International Association for Dental Research (ANZ Division), as well as Chair of the Australian Dental Research Foundation (ADRF) Research Advisory Committee.
The University of Sydney
Professor Donna Waters
Head of School and Dean, The University of Sydney School of Dentistry
The University of Western Australia
Professor Robert Anthonappa – ACODS Director
BDS, MDS (Paed Dent), PhD, AdvDipPaediatrDent, FDSRCS (Edin), MPaedRCS (Edin), MRACDS (Paed), FICD, FPFA
Professor Robert Anthonappa is the Dean and Head of the UWA Dental School and Director of the Oral Health Center of Western Australia. With a dental degree from India and advanced qualifications, including a Masters and Advanced Diploma in Pediatric Dentistry and a PhD from the University of Hong Kong, he is a distinguished leader in pediatric dentistry. His credentials include fellowships from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons. Professor Anthonappa‘s Research, focuses on pediatric dental clinical practices, genetic markers, and evidence-based treatments. His research has earned him numerous accolades, including the “Young Scientist Award” from the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry. He plays a key role in research advisory and editorial capacities. As a mentor, he fosters excellence among his students, who have won prestigious awards under his guidance
Rob, a clinician-scientist, has devoted his career to specialist clinical practice, training specialist paediatric dentists, and research. He is the program director for paediatric dentistry at the University of Western Australia (UWA), honorary consultant at the Perth Children’s Hospital, and Lead of Paediatric Oral Health Research Group at UWA.
The University of Otago
Professor Paul Cooper
Dean, Faculty of Dentistry
Professor Cooper has over 200 research peer reviewed publications and has authored and edited 12 book chapters in oral and pulp biology. He has delivered over 40 invited lectures globally. He has supervised over 40 Doctoral students and been awarded over NZ$10-million (equivalent) in research funding.
Paul has been awarded the 2024 IADR Distinguished Scientist Pulp Biology and Regeneration Award.
Professor Cooper is currently the President of the IADR-ANZ Division.
In 2010, Paul was awarded the IADR Distinguished Scientist Young Investigator Award and he has recently been the President of the Pulp Biology and Regeneration Group of IADR
He has visiting chairs at several universities around the world and serves as editor and on editorial boards for several leading dental journals.
Paul also completed a postgraduate certificate in learning and teaching in higher education (PGCILTHE) in 2003 and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.