I am Chair of Oral Health Services Research and Gerodontology within the Centre for Public Health (CPH) where I lead Oral Health Research. My research portfolio is multidisciplinary and I am a member of both the Health Services Research, and Nutrition and Metabolism Research Groups in CPH. My research is centred around optomising treatment options for older patients which positively impact their dental and overall health. This research is undertaken in partnership with the Belfast Older Person's Patient and Public Involvement Group (BELONG) My current position combines research, clinical teaching and specialist patient care.  

I am a specialist in Restorative Dentistry and Prosthodontics working as a Consultant in the Belfast NHS Health and Social Care Trust.  My clinical duties are based in the Centre for Dentistry, Queens University Belfast where I also provide clinical supervision and teaching for dental undergraduates.  I am the Director of Internationalisation for the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences.  

I am the current President of the British Society of Gerodontology and past President of the Geriatric Oral Research Group (GORG) within the International Association for Dental Research (IADR). I am a past President of the Irish Division of IADR and past President of the European College of Gerodontology (ECG).  I will be working with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a Fellow from 2021-2024 with a focus on improving oral health for older adults.    

I am the author of the textbooks: Clinical Cases in Gerodontology and Nutrition and Oral Health.  

My research focuses on:

1. Gerodontology: https://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/CentreforPublicHealth/Research/TOPIC-OralHealthinCareHomes/

2. Links between oral health and nutrition

3. Patient centred outcomes including Quality of Life measures

4. Health economics

5. Head and neck oncology

I am also a partner on the Erasmus + co-funded project, eCampus for Dental Education supporting multidisciplinary teambased learning and evidence-based treatment planning (EDEMTET)