COVID-19 beyond the dental clinic: Education, economics and health - 2021 World Oral Health Forum (Session 2 of 2)

Dr Gerhard K. Seeberger is president of FDI World Dental Federation and a private practitioner based in Cagliari, Italy. He is a past-speaker of the FDI General Assembly, former FDI councillor, and past-president of the FDI European Regional Organization. He is also the past-president of AIO (the Italian Dental Association). Dr Seeberger is a committee member for the Guidelines in Implant Dentistry and Periodontology of the Italian Ministry of Health, a member of the Italian Retirement Fund Section Private Practitioners, and a member of numerous scientific societies (implant dentistry, periodontology). He is an established speaker (with over 150 engagements), as well as an author, co-author and peer reviewer in Italian and international journals. He was awarded a doctor honoris causa in medicine from Yerevan State University in Armenia and is an honorary member of several national dental associations (Bulgarian Dental Association, Chicago Dental Society, Mexican Dental Association, Romanian Association of Private Practitioners).

Dan Dixon is Vice President of Business Development, Envista Holdings Corporation, a leading dental products manufacturer with brands that include Nobel Biocare dental implants, Kavo Kerr technology and consumables and Ormco orthodontic products. Dan has over 30 years of experience in the dental industry having served in a variety of commercial responsibilities, prior to assuming his current position in business development at Envista.

Dan is active in numerous trade and industry groups serving as a board member of Dental Trade Alliance Foundation and as a member of the IDM (International Dental Manufacturers) board. He is a committed advocate for increased access to oral health care.

Dr Victoria Collin currently works at the Medical Education Innovation and Research Centre (MEdIC) at Imperial College London, where she is involved in various research projects relating to health coaching, diversity and inclusion, digital health, preparation for practice and professional identity in medical education.
Victoria holds a PhD in Psychology and previously worked at the British Dental Association in the Research and Policy team leading on research projects, including examining dentists’ and dental students’ mental health and well-being.

Ali Theyab is the 20/21 President of International Association of Dental Students (IADS), and the current Head of Advisory Board of the organization. The Founder and current Trustee of Iraqi Dental Student Association -IDSA-.

Dr. Theyab is the first Iraqi young healthcare professional to be elected to lead an International youth healthcare organization. Assigned as an Expert to the WHO Academy Quality Committee by the WHO Healthcare Workforce Department.

Graduated as U.S. MEPI Leadership and Civic Engagement Alumni from Montana State University in 2017 while he was pursuing his Bachelor Degree in Dental Medicine from University of Wasit, which he obtained in 2018 and continued his service as a Dental Practitioner in the Iraqi Ministry of Health till the current moment.

Dr. Theyab started advocating for public health locally from 2015 in national-level NGOs before establishing the only dental student organization in Iraq in 2017 to lead independent projects in oral health using a student-centered approach to design interactive curricula for public health in dental schools and enhance innovation and entrepreneurship by enabling students to lead their own public health projects across the country.

He worked for four years on youth development projects in the national and regional arena to support youth involvement in the private sector and to support healthcare startups to thrive in order to develop health systems by using capacity building tools (design thinking, gamification, etc.). During his work on the International stage, he got the chance to be elected as IADS 19/20 External Relations Chairman, assigned as IADS 18/19 Governance Bureau Director, and serve as a Steering Committee member in the WHO GHWN Youth HUB.

Dr. Theyab focus area is to shape a new vision to Reinvent Art in Dentistry through Innovation, and Global Health advocacy.

Dr. Eliav is a professor and the Director of the Eastman Institute for Oral Health, Vice President for Oral Health at the University of Rochester Medical Center and the Vice Dean for Oral Health within its School of Medicine and Dentistry.
Eli earned his Dental Degree (1991), MSc (1995) and PhD (2004) from the Hebrew University and Hadassah in Jerusalem. He specialized in Oral Medicine at the Hebrew University, Hadassah Jerusalem, Israel (1991-1995) and trained in Clinical and Basic Science Research Program in the National Institute of Health Bethesda, Maryland, USA (1995-1997).
Since 2008 he is the Editor in Chief of Quintessence International and since 2018 an associate Editor of the Journal of oral-Facial Pain and Headache.