Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health through Distinction
Dr Julia Csikar a long-standing member of BASCD and a past Membership Secretary (2019-2022) has been awarded Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health through Distinction recognising her outstanding contribution to the science, literature, and practice of public health.
Julia has worked within dental public health for 24 years, at the University of Leeds School of Dentistry, the NHS and Public Health England. Currently, she is a lecturer in dental public health with a particular interest in health improvement, health inequalities, the impact of lifestyle factors on communities and research skills. She has education leadership responsibilities, School and Faculty level strategic roles, management of staff, research project management and supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Julia developed the PHE Alcohol Identification and Brief Advice (IBA) training pathway so that practitioners can give advice to patients who are drinking alcohol above the recommended limits set by the Chief Medical Officer in England.
Her current research is an evaluation of a dental service in Leeds for people who are experiencing homelessness (PEH). This investigation is built on previous qualitative research which explored the barriers for PEH achieving good oral health. This research not only contributed to NICE guidance (NG214) but also provided data necessary for the decision to commission this dental service in 2021.
Faculty of Public Health’s Service Medal for 2024
Maria Morgan has been awarded the Faculty of Public Health’s Service Medal for 2024 recognising her outstanding service to the Faculty of Public Health through the work  in her role as Chair of the Oral Health Special Interest Group, in other words as president of BASCD between 2020 and 2022.
Maria’s tenure as president covered the COVID years. At the beginning of the pandemic, BASCD needed to disseminate oral health information along with details of how to access dentistry to the public urgently. Maria together with members of the BASCD Oral Health Improvement group (including Jasmine Murphy, Charlotte Jeavons and Lwazi Sibanda) produced resources tailored to the four constituent countries of the UK. The Faculty of Public Health endorsed these resources and working in partnership we were able to disseminate to a much wider audience than usual, capitalising on both BASCD and FPH networks.
Since then, Maria has encouraged regular BASCD representation at the FPH Special Interest Group and Health Improvement committees. Working in partnership, sharing knowledge and expertise to tackle complex problems such as the recent consultations on Fluoride and the obesity agenda.
Julia and Maria will receive their awards at a ceremony following the FPH AGM at the Royal College of Physicians on the 25th of June 2024.
Congratulations to you both on this super recognition, thank you for your sterling contribution to dental and wider public health!