Martin Thornhill is a Professor of Translational Research in Dentistry at the University of Sheffield. Martin has been “a clinical academic for 30 years combining clinical practice in oral medicine with undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, and basic and translational research. Understanding the clinical nature of disease, and the needs of patients,” which he believes is “is fundamental to good research. While top quality collaborative, multidisciplinary research involving basic scientists and clinicians is essential for improving disease outcomes.”
Martins most recent campaign and research was inspired by Ash Frisby, a woman who lost her husband to Infective Endocarditis (IE) several years ago. The death of her husband was due to catching the infection during a routine dental procedure in October 2014, he became infected when bacterial from the mouth escaped into his bloodstream. Martin and Ash worked together along with Martins research team to studying other cases similar to Ash’s husbands and the science behind them. He has since “been around the world attempting to illustrate the personal cost and impact of IE and what clinicians can do to prevent it and diagnose it early. He’s spoken at international meetings of infectious disease experts and dentists, given lectures at the British Society of Endodontics and the British Society for Oral Surgeons, and spoken at cardiology meetings in the UK. Martin’s also investing time in a campaign for patients at risk of IE to be advised about the risk and be warned of the symptoms to look out for.”
This information was taken from the University of Sheffield’s article ‘Saving lives one word at a time’, if you want to find out more then head over and take a look!
