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Vaseekaran Sivarajasingam BMSc (Hons) BDS PhD FDSRCS(Eng) FDSRCS(OS) FDSRCPS FHEA

Professor Vaseekaran Sivarajasingam

BMSc (Hons) BDS PhD FDSRCS(Eng) FDSRCS(OS) FDSRCPS FHEA

Clinical Director, University Dental Hospital, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. Director, National Violence Surveillance Network, Violence Research Group. Chair, All-Wales Oral Surgery Strategic Advisory Forum.

School of Dentistry

Email
SIVARAJASINGAM@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 29225 10608
Campuses
University Dental Hospital, Room 5F.06 Postgraduate Research Office, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XY
Comment
Media commentator

Overview

I am Professor of Oral Surgery, Cardiff University and Consultant Oral Surgeon, Cardiff and Vale UHB.

As Clinical Director, University Dental Hospital, I lead a team of Clinicians and Managers on strategic direction, planning and delivery of comprehensive dental services, Cardiff and Vale UHB. Patient safety, quality of care and clinical outcomes are at the centre of focus and co-production of services involving all stakeholders is of the highest priority.

I was elected Chair, Welsh Government National Oral Surgery Strategic Advisory Forum (SAF, 2020-) and Oral Surgery and Oral Medicine Managed Clinical Network (MCN, 2017-). Under my leadership, SAF and MCN have developed partnerships between health boards in Wales for the purpose of improving the health and well-being of the people of Wales.

As member of the high-profile interdisciplinary Cardiff University Violence Research Group (VRG), I contributed to VRG being identified as 'world leading' in the Research Assessment Exercise, winning the 'Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education' for contributions to Medicine, Health and Welfare (2010) and being nominated for the prestigious Times Higher Education award (2012).

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Articles

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Conferences

Monographs

Research

I am a member of the Violence and Society Research Group (VRG) and contributed to VRG being identified as 'world leading' in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, winning the 'Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education' for contributions to Medicine, Health and Welfare (2010) and being nominated for the prestigious Times Higher Education award (2012). I developed collaborations with external partners, including 167 Emergency Departments (EDs) in England and Wales, all four police forces in Wales, Office for National Statistics, Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) and the Home Office. The development and expansion of the group has been facilitated by the close links which I formed with Cardiff Business School, School of Social Science and the Department of Primary Care and Public Health to study community violence using injury data. This interdisciplinary collaboration between academics and clinicians, which has been formalised within VRG, has been an important driver in translating my research findings into policy, potentially for better patient care and community benefit. For e.g. modelling violence-related injury has identified risk/protective factors amenable for interventions such as alcohol price, which is driving government policy on alcohol pricing. I am an advisor for the 'Welsh Government Panel on Substance Abuse' and my research on alcohol price and violence informed the Welsh Public Health White Paper (2014) 'Listening to you – Your health matters'.

My research trajectory, to tackle interpersonal violence and alcohol misuse, led to the development of the prototype network of Emergency Departments in England and Wales to collate, share injury data and disseminate findings. As Founder and Director of this National Violence Surveillance Network, I have made significant contributions to violence surveillance over the past two decades. I was awarded the International Research Prize for work on violence epidemiology. As Clinical Lead in many of the projects on tackling violence, which sit at the interface between clinical and academic research, I lead on idea generation, NHS ethics, patient recruitment and data quality and maximised opportunity for outputs to align with clinical practice.

As Divisional R&D Lead (2016-19), expert member Welsh Research Ethics Committee, (2017-19), Research Integrity Lead, (2017-), Dental School Research Ethics Officer (2016-) and Chair, Dental School Research Ethics Committee (2016-), I have facilitated links between University and Health Board researchers ensuring legal and ethical standards on research undertaken by students and staff.

Teaching

As Oral Surgery Programme and District General Hospital Lead, I have overall responsibility for the direction and development of Oral Surgery, a core Cardiff University BDS curriculum. I was elected Fellow, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (2018) for my contributions to post graduate Oral Surgery training and development in the UK. As Speciality Advisor (2016-), Training Programme Director and Chair, Speciality Training Committee (2013-19),  I lead Oral Surgery training in Wales for CCST. I am examiner, Intercollegiate Speciality Fellowship Examination (2019-23) and Diploma of Membership of the Joint Dental Faculties (Part 2; 2011-). I am fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Biography