Prof Chris Peck

Professor Chris Peck has spent the past two decades at the University of Sydney where he has had several leadership roles including Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry and Vice Chancellor’s delegate for the Westmead Precinct, Australia’s largest health precinct. As Dean, Professor Peck focused on unifying strategies in research and education including integrating the faculty’s fundamental, clinical and population health research to deliver positive impact to local and regional communities. Importantly, the faculty prioritised rapid translation of research findings through its education programmes, which were reformed to include short courses embedded within formal degrees. As Vice Chancellor’s delegate, Professor Peck was responsible for leading the development and implementation of the University’s academic strategy and was the lead academic for the design and build of a new hospital, that were the first phases of its new campus in western Sydney. The focus was on improving health and wellbeing through community and industry collaboration with heath and non-health disciplines.

Professor Peck’s leadership has extended to chairing the Board of Directors of the Australian Dental Council, which accredits Australia’s dental courses and assesses dental practitioners. During his term, he led the revision of dental practitioner competencies including importantly a focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, priority populations, and interprofessional collaborative practice, established academic partnerships, and grew the Council’s international activities. Professor Peck has also led a State ministerial taskforce into dental health services that created a decadal dental strategy for Australia’s largest state, and has led the development of a state-wide dental specialist services plan. He has led the Australasian Council of Dental Schools and successfully led representation of dental schools to state and federal governments to improve resourcing for clinical activities within academia.

Professor Peck is an internationally renowned clinical pain research who works closely with fundamental researchers to help understand better underlying mechanisms of persistent pain. He has been funded over the past two decades through Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council and has co-developed models explaining the impact of pain on normal function, brain mechanisms underlying persistent oral and facial pain and a standardised international classification of orofacial pain. He continues with international collaborations across Europe, Asia, and North and South America. This work is supported and disseminated through his clinical activities as an orofacial pain clinical expert where he works in interdisciplinary teams to help patients manage pain. He has led international research and clinical groups including the International network for Orofacial Pain and related disorders and the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Orofacial Pain, resulting in improved research outcomes and clinical management. 

Professor Peck has engaged extensively with community to improve health and wellbeing. This has included working with local and regional disadvantaged communities to improve access to oral health care through student and clinician outreach services and mentoring and training community members. He graduated from the University of Sydney with A Bachelor of Dental Surgery (1988), Master of Science in Dentistry (1995) and Graduate Diploma of Science in Medicine (Pain Management) (2002) and obtained his PhD from the University of British Columbia (2000).