At its annual meeting in Budapest from Wednesday, August 26, to Friday, August 28, the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) happily announced the 2026 winners of the Excellence in Dental Education Awards.
These awards are ADEE’s most prestigious honors, celebrating outstanding contributions to the education of dental and oral health professionals. The process is all about self-assessment and self-nomination, and every year we see a wonderful turnout of applicants. You can apply in two categories: early career and mature career educators.
The 2026 Mature Career Recipients are:
|
|
Dr. Shannu Bhatia from Cardiff University, United Kingdom Shannu, is Clinical Reader and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry at Cardiff and has accumulated over 15 years of sustained contribution to dental education and is an active participant in ADEE’s work. She will be particularly familiar for her COP work on well being and the ADEE Well dental concept. |
|
|
Dr. Wietske Fokkinga Radboudumc Nijmegen Dental School, Netherlands Wietske, is currently Associate Professor and Leader in Education at Radboudumc Nijmegen Dental School. She is a regular participant and presenter at ADEE where she is probably most well know for her work on Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA’s). |
|
|
Assoc. Prof. Clare McNally from Melbourne Dental School, University of Melbourne Clare, is currently Academic Lead for Assessment and Evaluation in Melbourne where you have been working since 2024. Prior to this she served as senior various other roles with the University of Sidney and Adelade. A regular attendee and workshop presenter at ADEE, her scholarship is strongly collaborative and translational, interdisciplinary and international. |
 |
Dr. Melanie Nasseripour from Kings College London, United Kingdom Melanie is currently Reader in Dental Education and Ethics at King’s College London (KCL), where she leads the Professionalism, Ethics, Management and Leadership curriculum within the Dentistry in Society module. Her passion for professionalism is clear to see, so too is your dedication to your students and your commitment to ADEE. |
The 2026 Early Career Recipients are:
 |
Ms. Janine Bailey, the University of Liverpool School of Dentistry Janine is currently Senior Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry at the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom. She is committed to education and also plays a key role in a civic engagement programme delivered by the School of Dentistry in partnership with Liverpool Foundation called Smile Squad. |
 |
Mr. Steven Attwell the University of Liverpool School of Dentistry Steven has been a Clinical Lecturer in Primary Care Dentistry at the University of Liverpool since September 2021, where he contributes extensively to undergraduate dental education and curriculum development across the School of Dentistry. |
