Spotlight: Janine Doughty

This month we welcome Dr Janine Doughty to Spotlight, previously an Academic Clinical Fellow in Special Care Dentistry at the Eastman Dental Hospital (UCLH) and currently a Doctoral Research Fellowship funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

What is your role and what does it involve?

My primary role is to undertake a Doctoral Research Fellowship funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The fellowship commenced in October 2017 and funds a feasibility study of point of care HIV testing in the dental setting. The study has three component parts i) a systematic review of point of care HIV testing in the dental setting ii) focus groups exploring patient and provider perspectives of HIV testing in the dental setting and iii) implementation of the HIV testing initiative in dental settings in London alongside which a process evaluation and health economic evaluation will also be undertaken. The aim of a feasibility study is to understand whether a full scale roll out or larger scale trial would be possible and the factors that would need to be considered for its implementation. 

What was your previous role?

Prior to commencing the NIHR fellowship I was an Academic Clinical Fellow in Special Care Dentistry at the Eastman Dental Hospital, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. I was training to be a specialist in providing dental care for some of the most vulnerable populations in our society (older people, people with learning disabilities, socially excluded populations). 

What have you enjoyed most about your fellowship?

I've enjoyed having the time for blue sky thinking and generating ideas. The fellowship has offered me an opportunity for networking with patients and the public, with others in healthcare and academia and allowed time for reading about concepts like critical realist and realist evaluations in healthcare, mixed methods synthesis and gaining an understanding of qualitative research methods. 

What working achievements or initiatives are you most proud of?

The NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship was an enormous process that took almost a year from start to commencement of the fellowship, the process included application forms, a research proposal and a 30 minute presentation and interview with a panel of about 17 researchers, consultants, professors and lay people  - I am quite honestly still reeling that I was offered the award (impostor syndrome is alive and well). I will never forget the day I got the confirmation email, I was attending a course about dentures, I quietly excused myself from the room to run out into the corridor where I jumped up and down, fist-punched the air, shed a few tears and rang all my loved ones; it was a great moment. 

What are you passionate about?

My passion is advocating for inclusive oral health for people experiencing social exclusion.  I still nurture my interests in developing "inclusive dentistry" through my roles as deputy service organiser of Crisis at Christmas Homeless Charity Dental Service and Pathway Homeless Healthcare Charity Inclusion Dentistry Fellow and most recently I volunteered with Dentaid charity to supervise trainee dentists providing dental care for sex-workers in Leeds. In 2016, my heart sang when I helped to organise the first national conference for Socially Inclusive Dentistry with Health Education East of England, there were three key note speakers, 15 workshops throughout the day and about 150 people attended. It was inspiring and afterwards we were contacted by young dentists who had written articles about the conference and had even gone on to develop their own inclusive dentistry initiatives. We have funding for a second conference later this year in collaboration with Pathway Homeless Healthcare Charity and the international conversation around inclusive dentistry will be commencing with a symposium this Summer which I am delighted to be co-chairing at the International Association of Dental Research Conference. I'm really proud that these efforts combined with the charitable initiatives were recognised by the British Dental Association Award for Services to the Association for work with vulnerable people.  

Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of your to-do list?

At the moment I am writing this article from an apartment in New York where, as part of my fellowship, I am visiting dental hospitals and community dental clinics to understand how HIV testing has been integrated into practice here in the United States and to integrate this learning into my ongoing protocol development. I've been lucky to have the opportunity to do some presentations for the students at Hofstra University while I've been here. The HIV testing in dental settings study is currently right at the top of my to-do list and will likely remain there for the next two and a half years, right now I'm wading through around 10,000 titles and abstracts to screen for the systematic review and almost at the stage of submitting for NHS Research Ethics Committee approval.  

What is your favourite film or screenplay and novel?

My favourite book of the moment that I'm carrying around and recommending to anyone who'll listen is 'Utopia for Realists and how we can get there' by Rutger Bregman. My favourite poet is Andrea Gibson and favorite screenplay is 1984 - an adaptation of the book by George Orwell. Favourite film, that's a toughie, I would have to say it's a toss up between Amelie (a quirky French movie about a good hearted waitress who tries to change the lives of those around her for the better)  and The Intouchables (another French film, this one is about an unlikely friendship that develops between a man who is quadriplegic and his unconventional carer - it's a tear-jerker). 

What is your favourite place?

My favourite place in London is Tower Bridge, its where I had my first date with my now partner on the very first day I moved to London and the same spot where he proposed at the end of last year. I have to add though that my favourite city is New Orleans, Louisiana which I visited for the first time last year. NOLA is vibrant, wild, full of jazz and Creole food, sunshine, friendly people and incredible architecture, if you get the chance, go there!  

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