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Helen Whelton

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Helen Whelton

Head Of College

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0881-360X
1986 …2025

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Biography

Professor Helen Whelton is Head of the College of Medicine and Health in UCC and Chief Academic Officer to the South South-West Hospital Group.

As Head of College, she works with the Deans of six schools; Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing and Midwifery, Clinical Therapies, Pharmacy and Public Health; and the heads of the Research Centres to ensure the delivery of the highest quality of education and training to underpin all aspects of health care including clinical service, population health and social care, research and innovation, healthcare leadership, management and planning. As Chief Academic Officer for the South South-West Hospital Group, she provides a formal interface, bridging between the academic and health service sectors.

Prior to this she was Dean of the School of Dentistry, University of Leeds, UK. Much of Prof Whelton’s research has been focused on providing information for oral health policy. She has directed a number of national surveys of adult and children’s oral health. She has also led EU funded research projects, the most recent of which was an H 2020 grant to explore the use of Big Data in dentistry, involving eight national and private insurers in six EU countries. In addition to leading research projects in Ireland she is currently collaborating on research grants with colleagues in the UK and Australia. She chairs the management committee of the UCC/HRB Clinical Research Facility and is leading the development of a joint research governance infrastructure between the South South-West Hospital Group and UCC.

Previously, in UCC she was Vice Head of the College, Dean of the Graduate School in the College of Medicine and Health, Professor of Dental Public Health and Director of the Oral Health Services Research Centre. She is a past president of the International Association for Dental Research and is the Association’s representative on the Federation Dentaire International Science Committee. Outside of dentistry Helen has served on the board of the Irish Health Research Board, the National Obesity Task Force and the Irish Women’s Health Council. She has expertise in a number of areas including Epidemiology, particularly National Surveys and Clinical Trials, Health Services Research, Fluoride, Caries, saliva and quality of life.

Research Interests

Professor Whelton’s research has informed the development of dental services and she has also expanded her research contribution to the areas of overweight and obesity and to women's general health issues. Internationally her research focus has been on health services research incorporating fluoride research. She has contributed to the development of the agenda for dental research nationally and internationally through her leadership of research organisations including The International Association for Dental Research.

Teaching Activities

I oversee a structured PhD in Clinical and Translational Health Research and am also on the steering committee of a structured PhD in Population Health and Health Services Research. Both of these outstanding programs illustrate innovation and excellence among Irish Universities. These innovative programs draw on skills and expertise at a National level, combining input from three to four universities and national and international placements. My commitment to this approach is founded on the belief that the programs produce excellent graduates who have benefited from diverse educational cultures and experience and who are in a strong position to contribute to the development of society and industry.

My interest in public health and preventive dentistry stems from my desire to plan and manage services to achieve maximum health and social gain. To me teaching is one of the ways in which I can impact on the health of the population. Oral health services can always be improved. Improvement requires leadership by dentists who have postgraduate training in Dental Public Health. To encourage students to pursue a career in Dental Public Health they need to have their ‘candle lit’ at the undergraduate stage. I know from my own experience that even a single lecture can have an influence on subsequent career choices. Thus, I strive to make my undergraduate teaching engaging and interesting. I want to develop student’s social conscience. I want to empower them and make them realize that any of them could have a big positive impact on population health in the future.

I developed a taught Masters Program in Dental Public Health to equip public health dentists to develop the discipline of dental public health in Ireland and in other countries. My objective was to have a positive impact on population health.

I supervise a number of PhD students, many of whom are jointly supervised with other departments for example Economics, Statistics and Psychology. I find interdisciplinary work very exciting, it brings specific areas of research to new heights and I am very pleased that it can be done so easily in UCC.

One of the great rewards for me is to see the undergraduate and postgraduate students I have taught progress in their careers.

Research Grants

Funding BodyTitlePeriodAward

Higher Education Authority

Clinical and Translational Research (R14150)

01-MAR-11 / 30-SEP-16

€915,557.00

Foreign Industry

"4-Day Plague Study to Evaluate the Comparative Plaque Efficacy of Various Oral Hygiene Products" (R12674)

09-JUN-08 / 30-SEP-09

€112,000.00

Health Boards

[EHB - LOT 1]{O'Mullane, Prof.} N (R10385)

01-JAN-90 / 01-JAN-12

€779,389.00

Foreign Research Institute

[Editorial Work]{O'Mullane Prof D} V (R11028)

01-JAN-03 / 31-DEC-08

€22,751.00

Health Boards

[ERHA - LOT 9]{O'Mullane, Prof.} N (R10470)

01-JAN-90 / 01-JAN-12

€94,740.00

Industry

[Plaque Acid Study] {Whelton Dr. H} V (R11001)

01-NOV-03 / 31-MAY-04

€133,508.00

Industry

Extrinsic stain removal by experimental chewing gums (R11145)

01-JUN-04 / 30-NOV-05

€326,443.00

European Union

European Global Oral Health Indicators (R11138)

01-JAN-03 / 31-DEC-04

€1,067.00

Department of Health

HSE - Training and Calibration exercise on the 4th and 5th November 2008 of 2 HSENE Dental Survey Teams (R13111)

04-NOV-08 / 30-MAY-09

€6,645.00

Health Research Board

Non-fluoride topical remineralising products for the prevention of dental caries (R13770)

01-NOV-10 / 01-OCT-14

€54,310.00

Foreign Industry

Clinical study to evaluate the Efficacy of two dentifrices in the Relief of Dentine Hypersensitivity. (R13899)

07-NOV-10 / 16-DEC-11

€306,947.00

Foreign Industry

GSK Tooth Erosion Study 2012 (R14450)

31-JAN-12 / 31-DEC-14

€116,942.00

Miscellaneous

[MISCELLANEOUS] {O'MULLANE, PROF} N (R10274)

01-JAN-90 / 30-JUN-25

€386,345.00

Industry

Siena Study: Smoking Cessation (R11403)

01-MAY-05 / 31-DEC-08

€441,780.00

Industry

[PFIZER - TOOTH STAINS]{Whelton Dr. H} V (R11065)

01-JAN-04 / 31-JAN-05

€224,013.00

Health Research Board

HRB 'Use of Equilibrium Salivary Fluoride Levels to Measure Compliance with Advocated Frequency' (R12279)

01-AUG-08 / 31-JUL-11

€297,701.00

Health Research Board

The impact of Enamel Fluorosis on Dental Asethetics and Quality of Life (R11115)

01-OCT-04 / 31-MAR-08

€184,767.00

Industry

Clinical evaluation of experimental and commerically available mouth lozenges in a Sjogrens populati (R12009)

01-NOV-06 / 30-SEP-08

€29,178.00

Health Research Board

HRB Dental Erosion in Irish Teenagers: An Epidemiological and Laboratory Investigation (R11433)

01-OCT-05 / 30-SEP-09

€265,834.00

Government Departments

Analysis of BMI Data (Northern Ireland) National Children's Survey (R11948)

01-MAR-06 / 31-AUG-08

€18,085.00

Government Departments

"Evidence Based Oral Health Policy for the Elderly" (R11277)

01-JAN-05 / 31-DEC-08

€40,000.00

Industry

[GLAXOSMITHKLINE} {O' Mullane, Prof.} V (R10536)

26-NOV-01 / 22-MAR-02

€278,301.00

Industry

WRIGLEY CONSULTANCY] {O'MULLANE PR} V (R10269)

01-JAN-90 / 01-JAN-12

€9,796.00

European Union

[EU QLK4-2000-00097 DUWS]{O'MULLANE D} V (R10185)

01-MAR-01 / 30-JUN-03

€167,438.00

Foreign Research Institute

[NICDR IR21DE014716-01] {O'Mullane,D.} Y (R10788)

15-NOV-02 / 30-JUN-04

€11,055.00

Health Research Board

[RP/51 /2002] {Dr H Whelton } N (R10723)

01-OCT-02 / 30-SEP-05

€155,000.00

Health Boards

Data entry and descriptive statistics for the HSE (R13970)

01-FEB-11 / 01-AUG-11

€17,733.00

Foreign Industry

Clinical Trial Study No RH01327 (R14449)

01-MAR-12 / 01-MAR-13

€261,470.00

Foreign Industry

Removal of extrinsic tooth stain by experimental chewing gums (R12026)

01-OCT-05 / 30-SEP-08

€654,003.00

Health Boards

[North/South Survey] {Whelton Dr. H} N (R11103)

01-JAN-04 / 31-MAR-04

€2,803.00

Health Research Board

[HRB GRANT 05/2001] {Whelton Dr. H} N (R10589)

01-APR-02 / 31-MAR-05

€138,817.00

Health Boards

Questionnarie Parents of 5 year olds (R10825)

01-AUG-02 / 01-NOV-06

€18,074.00

Foreign Industry

Follow up age 14 years erosion study (R13326)

01-SEP-09 / 31-DEC-11

€125,000.00

Health Research Board

Tackling Oral Health Inequalities in Preschoolers - an integrated Approach (R13635)

04-JUN-11 / 03-JUN-13

€154,689.00

Foreign Industry

Training for Lough Bane - exercise to train oral care assessors in the assessment of dentinal hypersensitivity. (R13878)

04-MAY-10 / 10-MAY-10

€6,772.00

Health Boards

"Invited lectures on MHB results re. North/South Survey of Children's Oral Health 2002" (R11541)

10-OCT-05 / 17-OCT-05

€759.00

Health Research Board

[RP/50 /2002] {Prof D o' Mullane} N (R10722)

01-OCT-02 / 30-SEP-06

€155,085.00

Department of Health

[Lot 10, 50 Questions] {O'Mullane D} V (R11015)

01-JAN-04 / 31-JUL-05

€25,669.00

Industry

[OHSRC00403] {Whelton Dr. H} V (R10915)

01-JUL-03 / 31-DEC-03

€47,114.00

Miscellaneous Non Exchequer

[TOOTHPASTE USE EVAL.] {Whelton,Dr.H.} N (R10808)

01-NOV-02 / 31-JUL-08

€137,009.00

Industry

[GABA DATA ANALYSIS] {Whelton, H.} V (R10506)

01-JUL-01 / 31-AUG-01

€10,158.00

Health Research Board

[HRB PRO60/2001] {D' O' Mullane} N (R10596)

01-JUL-02 / 31-OCT-08

€570,553.00

Foreign Industry

A pilot study to evaluate the efficiancy of two commercially available Dentifrices for Dentin Hypersensitivity. (R13344)

01-OCT-09 / 31-MAY-10

€250,058.00

Foreign Industry

An exploratory Clinical Trial Investigating the Efficacy of Dentifrices in providing relief from Dentinal Hypersensivitivy (R14146)

30-MAY-11 / 31-JUL-12

€124,665.00

Health Research Board

Mapping the divide - Population need, demand and geographic access to oral care in Ireland (R14584)

01-JUL-13 / 30-JUN-17

€338,323.00

Health Research Board

Tackling oral health inequalities in Preschoolers - an integrated approach (R14843)

01-DEC-12 / 31-DEC-13

€15,475.00

Health Research Board

What impact have major policy changes had on oral health in Ireland? (R14845)

17-DEC-12 / 31-DEC-18

€1,247,586.00

Foreign Industry

Training and calibration (R15284)

14-MAY-13 / 30-AUG-13

€9,726.00

Health Research Board

Pattern of toothpaste use in preschools. Is social media a valid research metholology? (R15030)

03-JUN-13 / 26-JUL-13

€2,000.00

Industry

[GABA DATA ANALYSIS] {O'Mullane,Prof} Y (R10776)

01-SEP-02 / 31-JAN-03

€27,825.00

Foreign Industry

GSK Follow-up Erosion Study (R12286)

01-MAR-07 / 30-SEP-10

€107,325.00

Health Research Board

Developing evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for the health board dental services (R11346)

01-DEC-04 / 03-JUN-11

€750,253.00

Health Boards

[EHB - LOT 3] {O'Mullane,Prof.D.} N (R10386)

01-JAN-90 / 01-JAN-12

€68,788.00

Government Departments

Oral Health in Ireland 2nd Edition (R12565)

01-MAR-08 / 31-JUL-09

€39,700.00

Department of Health

[INFANT FEEDING PATTERN] {Dr H Welton}V (R10632)

01-JUN-02 / 31-DEC-08

€112,609.00

Health Research Board

HRB Cochrane Training Fellowships 209 Patrice James CTF/2009/7 (R13279)

02-NOV-09 / 01-NOV-12

€83,836.00

Foreign Industry

To evaluate the efficacy of two Dentifirices for Dentin Hypersensitivity (R13576)

26-JUN-10 / 06-FEB-11

€610,971.00

Foreign Industry

A clinical study to evaluate the efficacy of two toothpastes for Dentin Hypersensitivity (R14170)

26-AUG-11 / 31-DEC-13

€619,718.00

Health Research Board

Supporting Individuals & Organisations Involved in Implementation of Community Water Fluoridation (R17949)

01-DEC-17 / 31-MAY-19

€56,401.00

Health Research Board

What the researcher and the dentist want to share: supporting knowledge dissemination (R18539)

07-DEC-18 / 31-MAR-21

€59,054.00

External positions

Chief Academic Officer, South/South West Hospital Group

Oct 2017 → …

Honorary Consultant in Dental Public Health, NHS

1 Oct 2013 → …

UCC Futures (primary)

  • Future Medicines

Other research affiliations

  • UCC Futures - Children

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  1. SDG 1 - No Poverty
    SDG 1 No Poverty
  2. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
  3. SDG 4 - Quality Education
    SDG 4 Quality Education
  4. SDG 5 - Gender Equality
    SDG 5 Gender Equality

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