Professor Louise Brearley Messer

BDSc, LDS, MDSc, PhD, GradDipDiv, FICD, FRACDS

Professor Louise Brearley Messer is currently Emeritus Professor in the Melbourne Dental School, at the University of Melbourne, Australia.  From 1990 to 2008 she was the Elsdon Storey Professor of Child Dental Health, and from 1996 to 2008 also the Director of Graduate Studies in this institution.  Professor Brearley has held senior academic positions in dental schools at the University Minnesota USA, and at the University of British Columbia, Canada. At the University of Minnesota Dental School, Professor Brearley was also director of the Postdoctoral Research Training Program in Dental Caries for the National Institutes of Health. 

Professor Brearley is currently a member of the American and Australian Academies of Pediatric Dentistry, the International Association for Dental Research, the Australian and New Zealand Association for Paediatric Dentistry, the Australian Dental Association, and the Victorian Women Dentists’ Association.  Professor Brearley currently serves on the Board of Studies in Paediatric Dentistry for the Royal Australian College of Dental Surgeons, and has previously served as consultant to the Royal Dental Hospital and the Royal Childrens’ Hospital, both in Melbourne, Australia.  She has lectured widely in Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Jordan; is a frequent international and national examiner of postgraduate theses and grants; serves currently on the editorial boards of the journals Dental Traumatology and Pediatric Dentistry, and is a regular reviewer for ten international dental journals.

Professor Brearley has been involved in research relating to paediatric dentistry, and has held numerous research grants investigating clinical and laboratory issues particularly in relation to caries, tooth wear, fluoride, developmental anomalies, molar incisor hypomineralisation, growth and development, and dental materials.  She has published over 200 papers and several book chapters, and has supervised the research of over 80 postgraduate students (masters and doctoral degrees), and over 25 undergraduate students or student research groups. As Emeritus Professor, she is now concentrating on teaching and research and in particular in research supervision of postgraduate students. In 2011, she was received the Award for Distinguished Service from the Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch, where she also serves on the eviDent Committee as a chief investigator.  In 2012 she received a Medal in the Order of Australia for her service to the dental profession, particularly in the field of paediatric dentistry, as a clinician, academic and researcher.