SPEAKERS
- 25 – 27 SEPTEMBER 2025
- Crowne Plaza Queenstown, NZ
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Dr Joana Monteiro
Paediatric Dentist
Joana joined the University of Sheffield in 2021 and currently works as a Senior Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry. Her main interests are the care of children with dental anomalies, with a focus on improving outcomes and patient experiences. She is undertaking a PhD investigating hypersensitivity in children with molar incisor hypomineralisation. Joana leads a joint clinic for children with metabolic bone disease, including rare conditions such as osteogenesis imperfecta and X-linked hypophosphatemia.
She co-founded the UK Clinical Excellence Network for amelogenesis imperfecta and dentinogenesis imperfecta to support best practice and multidisciplinary collaboration and is currently co-editing a book on Amelogenesis Imperfecta. Joana has published on topics related to paediatric dental anomalies and contributes to national and international clinical guidelines development.
Dr Patrick Ruck
Paediatric Dentist
As a paediatric dentist, Patrick specialises in the comprehensive treatment and care of children, teens, and special-needs patients. Having experienced fear and negative experiences at the dentist as a child, he was drawn to paediatric dentistry with the goal of creating a positive experience for patients and becoming a provider they enjoy visiting.
Patrick has practiced in a variety of rural and low-income areas, emphasising a care philosophy centred on understanding the specific needs and backgrounds of the patient populations within these communities. Building relationships with families and getting to know patients is a key aspect of their approach to care.
After serving in the National Health Service Corps for four years and working with Native American communities, Patrick developed a strong passion for public health. They take great pride in this service and deeply valued the experience of working with Native communities.
Cincinnati Children’s is a welcoming and resourceful place for families, and Patrick is excited to be part of such an extensive programme with access to diverse clinical research areas.
MORE SPEAKERS ANNOUNCING SOON – STAY TUNED!
Invited speakers
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from the collective experience of the Reconnext 2024 faculty of speakers, as they share their insights into delivering world-leading clinical studies and treatments.
Prof Nigel Curtis
Chair of Paediatric Infectious Diseases
Paediatrics Royal Children’s Hospital
Professor Nigel Curtis is a paediatric infectious diseases physician and clinician scientist. He is Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Melbourne and Head of Infectious Diseases at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne.
He is also Leader of Infectious Diseases & Microbiology Research Group at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, holds an undergraduate medical degree from the University of Cambridge. He completed clinical training at St Mary’s Medical School, University of London, and lab training at Imperial College London. Specializing in infectious diseases, his research, supported by grants exceeding $35 million, centers on enhancing diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of childhood infectious diseases. He leads a multidisciplinary team and is Chief Principal Investigator of The BRACE Trial, investigating BCG vaccination’s impact on COVID-19 in healthcare workers.
Bree Jones
Bree is an oral health therapist, senior lecturer at the Melbourne Dental School, and PhD candidate at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
Her research investigates using Intraoral Scanners for early caries detection in children and the development of automated caries detection methods using artificial intelligence. She is an active member of the ITU-WHO topic group on dental diagnostics and digital dentistry, which seeks to provide global standards for AI application in dentistry
Dr Jilen Patel
PhD, DClinDent (Paed Dent), BDSc (Hons), MRACDS (Paed), FADI, FICD, FPFA, SFHEAl
Dr Jilen Patel is a specialist paediatric dentist, senior lecturer at UWA, consultant at PCH and principal at Castlegate Family Dental Care. For over a decade, Jilen has been involved with providing volunteer dental services to remote Aboriginal communities and is the current chairman of the Kimberley Dental Team (KDT). Jilen’s research interests include dental public health and cariology, and he is the clinical lead for the WA Early Childhood Dental Program. His PhD created an evidence-based quality improvement framework for dental care to Indigenous communities and studied the impact of volunteer services to remote communities.
More recently he has been involved with translating and adapting the KDT model to address areas of unmet need in the Central Great Southern implementing a community based oral health promotion program seeing 80% of all 0-4yr old children in the region. He has also been involved with asynchronous telescreening for children to increase the reach of dental services in Perth as well as a large city-wide study currently in progress in Saudi Arabia. He has international collaborations in Indonesia and Cambodia aiming to improve oral health outcomes among underserved communities.
Jilen is passionate about unravelling and conveying evidence to help clinicians better understand complex concepts and he has received both the Royal Australasian College Emerging Lecturer Award, the ADA/Pierre Fauchard Academy’s Young Lecturer Award and recently received the ADA Outstanding Young Dentist Award for his contribution to the profession.
Dr Vanessa Cho
Dr Vanessa Cho is a specialist paediatric dentist who is passionate about understanding the psychology of young children to respond to their oral health needs and treat them. To obtain an objective assessment of a child’s perspective, she embraced eye-tracking technology for her PhD to conduct Eye Movement Analysis In children (EMAIL). The goal of Vanessa’s research is to better understand what children see and connect the visual search patterns to common oral health problems affecting children. In turn, the results be translated if visual search can be used as an early predictor for children at risk of common oral health conditions.
Professor Robert P. ANTHONAPPA
BDS, MDS (Paed Dent), Ph.D, AdvDipPaediatrDent, FDSRCSEd, MPaedDentRCSEd, MRACDS (Paed), FICD, FPFA
UWA Dental School, The University of Western Australia
Professor Robert Anthonappa is an academic and specialist practitioner in pediatric dentistry. He is the Dean and Head of the UWA Dental School and the Director of the Oral Health Center of Western Australia. He obtained his dental degree in India before pursuing additional education, including a Masters in Pediatric Dentistry, an Advanced Diploma in Pediatric Dentistry, and a PhD from the University of Hong Kong. His fellowships and memberships from prestigious institutions, such as the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons, are a testament to his commitment to paediatric dentistry.
His extensive research contributions, totaling over 100 publications in national and international peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, have focused on clinical aspects of paediatric dentistry, genetic markers for dental anomalies, and evidence-based evaluation of treatment approaches. He has received numerous scholarships and awards, including the “Young Scientist Award” from the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry. In addition to his research and academic roles, Professor Anthonappa has served as an External Examiner for national and international universities and continues his involvement in research advisory roles as a member of the Australian Dental Research Foundation’s Research Advisory Council, reviewing grants and on the editorial boards of paediatric dentistry journals.
Professor Robert Anthonappa played an important part in establishing the DCD course at UWA. He continues to supervise specialist trainees and foster a culture of excellence, which has resulted in his students winning prestigious awards. He emphasises sharing knowledge and experience and instills a sense of responsibility in trainees to give back to the specialty.
Dr Michelle Mun
DDS, BBiomedSc, GCert(Informatics)
Melbourne Dental School & Centre for Digital Transformation of Health
Michelle is a dentist and Lecturer in Digital Health Transformation in Dentistry at Melbourne Dental School, with a joint appointment at the Centre for Digital Transformation of Health. After graduating from the Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree in 2015, she worked across private and public dental sectors whilst consulting for startups, dental organisations and government in the digital health space.
She has since specialised in informatics at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, and is working with the Centre for Digital Transformation of Health to embed digital health content in dentistry. Michelle drives high-level digital health strategy via the Australian Dental Association Dental Informatics and Digital Health Committee and the International Medical Informatics Association Dental Informatics Working Group. She has special interests in interoperability and in structuring health data for useful clinical analysis and quality improvement.
Prof Nigel Curtis
Chair of Paediatric Infectious Diseases
Paediatrics Royal Children’s Hospital
Professor Marie Cornelis
Orthodontist
Professor and Head of Orthodontics
Melbourne Dental School
Professor Alastair Sloan
Head of School
Melbourne Dental School
Dr Balvindar Kaur
Staff Anaesthetist
Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne
Dr Eduardo Alcaino
Paediatric Dentist
Dr John Sheahan
Paediatric Dentist
Dr Peter Wong
Paediatric Dentist
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