Prof 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.
Prof Nigel Pitts
Chief Executive Officer
Nigel (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.
Prof Svante Twetman
Trustee
Svante 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.
Ross Pow
Trustee
Ross is a director of Power of Numbers, a strategy consultancy which specialises in tackling complex system challenges by translating evidence into action. He works with universities, charities, non-profit institutions and government, including recent assignments with the Royal College of Nursing, Asthma and Lung UK, and The King’s Fund.
He began his career in economics and public policy before going on to lead businesses in telecoms consulting, research publishing and organizational development. Ross is also a senior associate at the Policy Institute at King’s College London, contributing to more than 30 research projects over the last 10 years, with a particular focus on health, data and technology.
Ross has been involved with the Alliance for a Cavity-Free Future since 2017, designing and facilitating its Policy Labs. These have included three global events followed by country-level Policy Labs in Canada, South Africa and Brazil.
Dr Livia Tenuta
Trustee
Livia is an Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences and Endodontics at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. She is an internationally recognised expert in caries prevention, particularly regarding the role of fluoride and the impact of various sugars on caries development.
A NIH-funded researcher, her research program focuses on developing innovative strategies to enhance the anticaries effect of fluoride, to create more effective treatments at a lower fluoride dose. Livia has published more than 100 peer-review papers and contributed to several books as main author or chapter author. For her work in cariology and fluoride research, Livia was awarded the IADR Basil Bibby Award for Young Researchers in Cariology in 2014 and the IADR E.W. Borrow Memorial Award in 2024.
Livia currently serves as president of the American Academy of Cariology (AAC) and is editor-in-chief of the journal Caries Research. She has held significant leadership positions in the International Association for Dental Research (president of the IADR Cariology Group, 2011-12), as a board member of the Organization for Caries Research (ORCA, 2013–2020; 2024-present), as a board member of the AAC (2020-present) and as a member of the American Dental Association Council on Scientific Affairs (2022-2026).
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.
Pictured: 2018 meeting of the ACFF Expert Panel – Washington DC, USA.
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 below.
We are constantly grateful for their input and support.
Raman Bedi
Andy Blinkhorn
Saskia Estupinan-Day
Dushanka Kleinman
Wendell Evans
Prathip Phantumvanit
Ari Kupietzky
Roger Ellwood
Rick Niederman
Chet Douglass
Corrie Jongbloed-Zoed
Tim Newton