Janani Sivabalan

With 20 years of experience in the dental field, Janani is currently engaged in teaching across several undergraduate programmes, including the Bachelor of Dental Surgery, BSc Dental Therapy, and BSc Clinical Dental Technology. She has developed and delivered educational content for lectures and seminars utilising face-to-face, blended, and online formats.

Over the past seven years, Janani has used her clinical expertise to support undergraduate students in dental nursing, dental hygiene, and dental therapy in achieving excellence across their full scope of practice. In 2021, she also provided paediatric training as part of the Thames Valley and Wessex Postgraduate Dental Therapist Foundation Training Scheme.

Awarded Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy in 2019, Janani has developed her teaching and mentoring skills and cultivated research interests in Dental Public Health, working as a Research Practitioner. Her research contributions include the development and implementation of Virtual Reality simulation training for dental professionals, as well as the establishment of a Dental Walk-in Clinic aimed at serving underserved populations.

This project allowed Janani to develop her leadership skills, taking full responsibility for organising the walk-in clinic sessions. Additionally, it provided a unique opportunity to integrate dental hygiene and dental therapy students from different cohorts, fostering shared clinical care, and enhancing their clinical teamwork, experience, and development.