University of Plymouth Dental School celebrates landmark NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship Award
The University of Plymouth Dental School has achieved a significant milestone following the award of a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Doctoral Research Fellowship to Dr Joelle Booth. This marks the first NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship ever awarded to the Dental School, representing an important moment in the School’s growing oral health research profile and expertise in oral health inequalities research. The award signals an important step forward for the University of Plymouth Dental School, strengthening its position as a leading centre for research focused on oral health inequalities and underserved populations.
Dr Booth’s fellowship will focus on addressing the complex oral health needs of people in prison, one of the most underserved populations in society. Oral diseases are among the most common global health conditions, affecting pain, function, quality of life and overall health. These problems are heightened in prisons, where limited access to dental care and barriers to oral hygiene contribute to much higher rates of untreated dental decay, gum disease, and dental infections. Improving oral health for people in prison is therefore a public health priority and an important consideration for reducing oral health inequalities.
The NIHR-funded doctoral research will address a gap in research through a comprehensive, mixed-methods programme of work. It will begin with an in-depth assessment of oral health needs and current dental service provision in prisons across England, alongside qualitative research exploring the lived experiences of people in prison, dental professionals, and prison staff. The study will then progress to the co-design of a tailored oral health intervention aimed at developing an oral health intervention that is feasible to deliver in prison settings. Click here to view an overview of the project.
A key feature of the fellowship is its strong foundation in Dr Booth’s previous work. This includes the co-design of “My Story, My Words, My Mouth” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_UupJJxbaA), a film that captures the oral health experiences of people in prison and is available on YouTube. The fellowship also builds on a Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS) pump-priming grant project undertaken at the University of Plymouth with support from PDSE (further details available here).
The NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship is supported by a strong interdisciplinary supervisory team at the University of Plymouth, led by Dr Martha Paisi as Director of Studies, alongside Professor Robert Witton and Dr Tom Thompson. Additional external supervision will be provided by Professor G.J. Melendez-Torres (University of Exeter) and Professor Rosie Meek (Royal Holloway, University of London). The wider mentorship team includes Dr Julie Parsons (University of Plymouth) and Dr Janine Yazdi-Doughty (University of Liverpool). The supervisory and mentorship team brings together expertise across oral health inequalities, public health, criminology, sociology, and applied health research.
