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 |
Prof. 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. |
Prof. Stephen Porter, Co-Chair Clinical Academic | Institute Director (2008-2024) 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. |
Prof. 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 postgraduate 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. |
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:
- Academic and Teaching
- Professional Services and Technicians
- PhDs and PDRAs
- Data Collection and Monitoring
- 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.
