September 2011
Three new administrative appointees—Dr. Leandra Best, Dr. David Sweet OC and Dr. Andrea Esteves, now associate deans—greeted the new academic year.
While the associate dean of clinical affairs position has been vacant since the departure of Dr. M.A.J. (Lex) MacNeil in 2009, academic and student affairs has been under the leadership of Dr. Joanne Walton since 2001. Walton leaves her role to two associate deans who, respectively, will oversee the academic and personal life issues related to students’ education.
Associate Dean, Academic Affairs
Dr. Leandra Best, Associate Dean, Academic Affairs
W. Leandra Best, DMD, clinical associate professor, joined the Faculty of Dentistry in 1999 as a part-time instructor in fixed prosthodontics and quickly became involved in many components of the dental curriculum. As DMD coordinator for years one and two, she worked closely with the Faculty of Medicine on the delivery of our joint problem-based learning (PBL) pedagogy. She co-authored numerous PBL cases and developed Dentistry’s PBL Tutor Training Workshop and the PBL Orientation for students. Best, who received a 2004 Dentistry Teaching Award, a 2006 Killam University Excellence in Teaching Award and was the 2007 3M – ESPE ACFD National Teaching Award winner, is involved in UBC-wide faculty development workshops at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology, the Faculty of Medicine and the UBC Campus PBL Network. She has extensive knowledge of the DMD curriculum, having taught in all four years and through numerous collaborative curriculum projects with faculty. Best serves as chair of the DMD Curriculum, Teaching and Effectiveness Subcommittee and has a keen interest in dental education research.
Associate Dean of Students
Dr. David Sweet OC, Associate Dean of Students
David Sweet OC, DMD, PhD, DABFO, FICD, FACD, professor, is also director of the Bureau of Legal Dentistry (BOLD) lab. He is a 1978 alumnus of UBC and a world-renowned scientist in forensic odontology. He was invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2008 for enhancing Canada’s reputation in the science of victim identification and for his contributions as a teacher, researcher and consultant. Sweet has a long list of firsts in DNA recovery methods that have become global industry standards in forensic odontology, including techniques for disaster response. He is Canada’s odontology representative for the Interpol Standing Committee (Lyon, France) on disaster victim identification and a forensic adviser to the International Committee of the Red Cross (Geneva, Switzerland). Sweet has had an ongoing interest in UBC students, and this new role formalizes what he has advocated on their behalf.
Associate Dean, Clinical Affairs
Dr. Andrea Esteves, Associate Dean, Clinical Affairs
Andrea Esteves, DDS, MSc, clinical associate professor, arrived at UBC from Brazil in 1991 as a graduate student in Oral Biology. Under Dr. Michael MacEntee’s supervision, Esteves completed her MSc thesis, “Systemic Metabolism and Human Jaw Bone,” to provide histological information on the bone around implants. While still a graduate student, she taught in a number of DMD courses and modules, including prosthodontics. Esteves graduated in 1994, and in 1996 began at UBC as a clinical advisor and practitioner, soon taking on a larger role as clinic manager. Her leadership proved invaluable as a key member of the planning team for the Nobel Biocare Oral Health Centre, where she has been clinic director since 2009. Esteves has also been involved as a clinician supporting many of the Faculty’s geriatric dentistry research projects.