Professor Martin C Downer DDS, PhD, LDS RCS, DDPH RCS

Martin Downer is honorary professor, University College London and honorary professor, University of Manchester. He is a founder member and past president of the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry, life member of the International Association for Dental Research, and former member of the United Kingdom General Dental Council (1979-90), being chairman of its Dental Health Education Sub-committee (1979-82).

He qualified in dentistry at the University of Liverpool in 1958 and gained the Diploma in Dental Public Health in 1969 (University of London, external). He was awarded his PhD in 1974 and Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1989, both in the University of Manchester.
In 1970 he was appointed research fellow in dental health, University of Manchester and became area dental officer, Salford Area Health Authority in 1974 whilst holding the positions of honorary lecturer in community dentistry and adviser on systems analysis in the Dental Health Unit, U. Manc. In 1979 he was appointed chief dental officer in the Scottish Home and Health Department (SHHD) and honorary senior lecturer in the University of Edinburgh and University of Dundee. In 1983 he was appointed chief dental officer in the Department of Heath and Social Services (DHSS), later in the Department of Health (DH). In 1990 he was appointed professor and head of department (chair) of dental health policy, and honorary consultant in dental public health, Eastman Dental Institute for Oral Heath Care Sciences, University of London, from which he retired in 1996.

Among his other activities he has held posts, from time to time, of visiting lecturer/professor in eleven universities overseas. He was a member of the Expert Advisory Panel on Oral Health, World Health Organization (1984-99) and chairman of the UK Working Group on Screening for Oral Cancer (1991-93). He was chairman, Advisory Committee on Dental Establishments, SHHD, a member of the Scottish Health Service Planning Council (1979-83) and member of the Dental Strategy Review Group (1980-81). He was chairman of the DHSS Central Manpower Committee, Dental Sub-committee and a member of the Joint Consultants Committee (1983-90); chairman of the Adult Dental Health Survey Steering Group (1987-88) and of the Committee on Continuing Education and Training (DH, 1988-90). In 1995 he was a member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Research Assessment Exercise, Clinical Dentistry Panel and in 1997, the NHS Primary Dental Care R&D Programme, Peer Review Panel.

Professor Downer is past editor and current member of the editorial board Community Dental Health (1993-2002). He has over one hundred papers in peer-reviewed journals and is author of, or contributor to, twenty text or reference books including Introduction to dental public health. London: FDI World Dental Press 1994; Principles of Screening – Oral Cancer. In ed. Rothwell P S, Pathways in practice, vol II primary dental care. London: Faculty of GDPs (UK), 1997; and Oral Cancer. In eds. Pine CM, Harris R. Community oral health 2nd edition. Copenhagen: Quintescence, 2005. Recent co-authored papers include Optimum Bitewing Examination Recall Intervals Assessed by Computer Simulation. Community Dent Health 2000:17:14-9; Is Alcohol Responsible for More Oral Cancer? Oral Oncol 2000;36:328-32; and A Systematic Review of Test Performance in Screening for Oral Cancer and Precancer. Oral Oncol 2004;40:264-73.