Enhancing infection control in the dental practice: Strategies, challenges, and sustainable solutions

James Allison is a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow at Newcastle University, UK, where he also works clinically in oral and maxillofacial surgery. His research looks at the dispersion of microorganisms via bioaerosols during dental procedures, and his work helped to guide clinical practice in the UK and elsewhere in the world during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Emeritus Professor in Microbiomics, Lakshman Samaranayake is a Past Dean of Dentistry, at the University of Hong Kong, and the University of Queensland, Australia. The author of over 450 communications cited over 35,000 times (h-index 102), and several microbiology texts, he is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the International Dental Journal. He has addressed the profession in over 40 countries and received numerous coveted accolades from several Royal Colleges in the UK, and IADR, Washington for his contributions to dentistry.

Suhail Al-Amad is a Professor and Consultant in Oral Medicine at the University of Sharjah and the University Hospital Sharjah. Between 2010 and 2020, he chaired the Infection Control Committee at his institute, during which he wrote an infection control manual and several policies regulating infection control in dentistry. Professor Al-Amad has also authored several research papers in this field.

Professor Walsh is a specialist in special needs dentistry based in Brisbane, Australia, and is affiliated with the University of Queensland. He has long standing research interests in clinical microbiology and infection control in dental clinics. He has contributed to the development of standards and guidelines in infection control in Australia for over 25 years.