Professor Chris Vernazza
Chair of Trustees
Chris is Professor of Oral Health Services and Head of School at the School of Dental Sciences, Newcastle University, UK. He also acts as an Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry for Newcastle upon Tyne Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Chris’s research interests focus in the area of health economics of oral health and he works at the policy-academic interface applying this knowledge. In addition, Chris is committed to developing research and academic careers in dentistry and contributes to this work through the National Institute of Health Research as well as at his own institution.
His clinical work in paediatric dentistry means that he sees the impacts of decay on a regular basis, and this has only strengthened his resolve towards the goals of ACFF. Chris is also trustee of the Oral and Dental Research Trust and is the Honorary Editor and Executive Member of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry. Chris represents ACFF on the World Dental Federation’s Vision 2030 Implementation and Monitoring Taskforce.
Professor Nigel Pitts
Chief Executive Officer
Professor Nigel Pitts (FRSE BDS Ph.D FDS RCS (Eng) FDS RCS (Edin) FFGDP (UK) FFPH) is Professor Emeritus within the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences at King’s College London.
Alongside his work at King’s, he is the leader of the Global Collaboratory for Caries Management (GCCM) initiative, former Chair and currently Chief Strategy and Advocacy Officer of the ACFF and Co-Founder Director of the ICDAS foundation.
He was an Honorary Consultant in Dental Public Health to Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and is Past-President of the European Organisation for Caries Research (ORCA), the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry (BASCD) and the European Association for Dental Public Health (EADPH).
Nigel also sits on the board of trustees for the charity.
Chris Brown
Director of Operations & Finance
Chris joined the ACFF in 2025 and brings a wealth of experience in charity management, following an earlier career as CEO of a multi-million pound charity in the UK and ongoing third sector consultancy work with international organisations.
As Director of Operations & Finance (formerly known as the Global Manager), Chris coordinates the charity’s global operations and network of volunteer Chapters. He is also responsible for the charity’s financial operations, governance requirements and partnership operations while working closely with the Board of Trustees and Chair to ensure that the ACFF is striving to fulfil its goals.
Professor Svante Twetman
Trustee
Svante Twetman is Professor Emeritus (Cariology) at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen in Denmark and specialist in pediatric dentistry. His research covers the role of the dental biofilm in health and disease, risk assessment and caries prevention with fluorides among children and young adults. His most recent focus is pre- and probiotic supplements for the maintenance of oral health, conducted through clinical trials and explorative laboratory studies.
Svante serves as a consultant for the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services, undertaking independent assessments of interventions used in health, medical and dental services. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers, contributed in several textbooks and received many international awards.
The ACFF Expert Panel
The ACFF Global Expert Panel is formed of a carefully selected group of thought leaders in the areas of cariology and public health, as well as representatives from a number of leading international dental practitioner organisations.
The panel oversees and guides the work of the ACFF, allowing us to make use of their wealth of experience and knowledge to ensure we are acting in the most effective and appropriate way.
Meet the Panel
Myron Allukian – USA
Caswell Evans – USA
Jorge Castillo – Peru (IAPD)
Svante Twetman – Denmark
Ihsane Ben Yahya – Morocco
Mikako Hayashi – Japan
Stefania Martignon – Colombia
Mahesh Verma – India
Anna Vierrou – Greece (IAPD)
Deniz Devrim Kaya – Turkey (IADS)
Alice Horowitz – USA
Nigel Pitts – Scotland
Julie Barker – Australia
Margherita Fontana – USA
Jill Rethman – USA (IFDH)
ACFF Emeritus
There are a number of people who played an instrumental role in the conception, initiation and progression of the ACFF.
Those that are no longer active members of our panel are recognised here.
We are constantly grateful for their input and support.
Raman Bedi
Andy Blinkhorn
Saskia Estupinan-Day
Dushanka Kleinman
Wendell Evans
Livia Tenuta
Prathip Phantumvanit
Ari Kupietzky
Roger Ellwood
Rick Niederman
Chet Douglass
Corrie Jongbloed-Zoed
Tim Newton