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The Equalities Committee

The Equalities Committee meets monthly to embed equality and diversity across the Institute. Each member feeds into a focus group and provides feedback to the wider committee on a regular basis.

Meet the Team

Member 
Job title  
Experience  

Dr Susan Parekh, Chair 

Clinical Academic

Associate Professor / Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry. 

Previous SAT member (2012-2014) and Programme Director of the female-dominated blended learning MSc and Professional Doctorate Programmes.

Professor Stephen Porter, Co-Chair 

Clinical Academic

Institute Director and Professor of Oral Medicine. 

Director of the Institute since 2008.  Programme Director of Special Care Dentistry.  Stephen has strived to promote the well-being of all staff and students and promote Athena SWAN principles in all aspects of Institute life.

Rhondda Pierre, EDI Co-Secretary

Professional Services Staff

Senior Programme Administrator

Joined the SAT in June 2022, currently on secondment.

Sam Photiades  

Professional Services Staff

Institute Manager  

Currently the Manager of the Professional Services Team and SAT member since 2019 with SAT experience backdating to 2012 working in various Divisions/Institutes within the Faculty of Medical Sciences. Sam is part of the Professional Services Team Working Group.

Professor Susan Cunningham 

Clinical Academic

Professor/Honorary Consultant in Orthodontics 

 

She is Programme Director for one of the largest MClinDent Orthodontic programmes in Europe. She has worked at EDI since 1995 and was the first EDI female professor.  Susan has been a SAT member since 2012 and is responsible for the development of the Athena SWAN Mentoring Programme within the Institute.

Nicola Phillips  

Professional Services Staff

HR Officer

Member of the current SAT Team since 2021 with previous Athena SWAN experience dating back to 2005.  Nicola is responsible for recruitment, onboarding, and the employee life cycle of all staff within the Eastman Dental Institute. Nicola is also the Inclusion Lead and Mental Health First Aider for the Institute and a Member of the UCL Gender Working Group and Disabled Equality Steering Group and an Athena SWAN Mock Panellist for UCL.

Dr Alessandro Poma 

Non-clinical Academic

Lecturer in Biomaterials and Allied Subjects

Member of SAT since 2019 and a committee member of the UCL Cancer Domain Early Career Network.  Alessandro has experience with the promotion of work-life balance and career development initiatives for early-career researchers. He is also part of the Events working group for Athena SWAN.

Trevor Willock 

Professional Services Staff

Management Accountant

Member of SAT since 2020 providing assistance with the analysis of data and information on student gender numbers per programme at various stages of engagement from application through to the award of the qualification achieved.  Trevor is responsible for budgeting, forecasting and financial management at the Eastman Dental Institute.

Kerry Lancaster 

Professional Services Staff

Chief Instructor Technician Orthodontics 

Member of the Eastman since 1995 responsible for teaching the laboratory technical skills to postgraduates on the MClinDent Orthodontic programme.  Kerry has been a member of the SAT since 2021 and is currently shadowing Professor Cunningham with the Athena Swan mentoring programme.

Gregory Sebepos-Rogers 

Clinical Academic

Clinical Research Fellow 

Member of SAT since 2019.  Gregory is a post-graduate researcher and physician working within the Events working group.

Dr Rachel Leeson

Clinical Academic

Clinical Senior Lecturer /  Honorary Consultant in Oral Surgery

Member of SAT since 2018. Rachel has analysed research /postgraduate data.  Rachel is also the Programme Director of Oral Surgery and the Departmental Graduate Tutor.

Dr Linh Nguyen

Non-clinical Academic

Lecturer in Biomaterials and Allied Subjects

Member of SAT since 2019. Linh is responsible for public engagement activities and women in STEM and Enterprising. Linh organises research seminar series for the Institute and is a Fair Recruitment Specialist. Linh is also a committee member of UCL Therapeutic Innovations Networks (TINs) and an Alumnae at RisingWISE program (an enterprise course by and for women at Oxford and Cambridge).

Sarah Douglas

Professional Services Staff

Project and Business Development Manager

Member of SAT since 2022.  Sarah is responsible for the analysis of both staff and student data. Sarah also managed the relocation of the institute in 2021, which involved considering the specific needs of different staff groups and individual staff members.

Marianne Dang

Professional Services Staff

Research Administrator

Member of SAT since 2019. Marianne has provided student data to the SAT team. Marianne is responsible for PGR student administration from enquiry, admissions and throughout the complete student journey until graduation.

Membership 

The EDI Committee is built around representatives of PhD students, PDRAs, and Professional Services Staff including Technicians,  Teaching Fellows and Academic who meet on a monthly basis. The Chair also sits on the Faculty EDI Board and feeds into the Faculty Strategy.

Focus Groups 

Our key themes are: 

  1. Academic and Teaching 
  2. Professional Services and Technicians 
  3. PhDs and PDRAs 
  4. Data Collection and Monitoring 
  5. Harassment and Bullying

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Definitions

EQUITY: the quality of being fair and impartial

DIVERSITY: the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc

INCLUSION: the practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those who have physical or intellectual disabilities and members of other minority groups.