Zoe Brookes

Associate Professor of Dental Education and Research, University of Plymouth
Zoe is currently employed at the University of Plymouth as an Associate Professor in Dental Education and Research with a variety of educational roles, including overseeing the Year 1-5 curriculum of the BDS Programme (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) course, Acquired Dental Knowledge assessment lead, Enquiry Based Learning lead and Intercalating MSc Dental lead.

Her research interests involve undertaking clinical research in a primary care dental setting, investigating the mechanisms linking oral health and systemic disease, having established and now leading the the Plymouth Oral Microbiome Research Group (OMRG). She also leads blood pressure case finding clinics with Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise. The Plymouth OMRG investiugates links between the oral microbiome and blood pressure control (hypertension and pre-eclampsia), as well as the effects of anti-microbial mouth washes on the oral microbiome, where Zoe is working with the FDI task team on recommendations for their use. She is involved in a national initiatives to develop health screening services at the dentist. She has also previously published extensively in the field of sepsis, identifying microvascular endothelial cell mechanisms and pharmacological agents that improved blood flow and reduced inflammation during sepsis.

Zoe originally graduated with a BSc in Physiology and Pharmacology, after which she gained a PhD investigating the role of anaesthetics within the microcirculation, both from the University of Sheffield, ultimately becoming a Non-Clinical Lecturer and Principal Investigator there. Before this she also worked at the University of Alberta in the Department of Physiology as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research. Since graduating in dentistry from Plymouth University Zoe has practised in clinics in the city and still works part-time as Dental Associate within the NHS, with an interest in anxious patients and periodontal disease.