Dr. Abbas Jessani is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Divisions of Dental Public Health and Restorative Dentistry and in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, with interdisciplinary expertise in access to dental care and public health. He is also an Academic Lead for the Community Service-Learning program at Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University.

Dr. Jessani’s academic journey began with an undergraduate dental degree from the University of Karachi, followed by graduate training programs at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of British Columbia (UBC), where he earned both his MSc and PhD with a focus on Public Health Dentistry. His research and advocacy work in British Columbia (BC) have addressed critical gaps in oral healthcare access among vulnerable and marginalized populations, including individuals living with HIV and at-risk pregnant women. Dr. Jessani’s expertise involves investigating the pervasive stigma and discrimination that minorities, such as people living with HIV, face when accessing healthcare services in Canada and globally.

Towards the completion of his PhD, Dr. Jessani served as the Head of the Department of Operative Dentistry at the College of Dentistry, University of Saskatchewan, where his teaching philosophy emphasized risk-based, person-centred care and minimally invasive dentistry, while his research focused on investigating the barriers to oral health among equity-seeking communities in Saskatchewan. At Western University, he leads local and global community service-learning programs while playing active roles in the Divisions of Dental Public Health and Restorative Dentistry as well as supervisory roles in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

He has received numerous awards for excellence in teaching and research. He is a Fellow of the American College of Dentists, the International College of Dentists, and the Pierre Fauchard Academy. He holds leadership positions in several local, regional, and international organizations, including the Canadian Association of Public Health Dentistry, the Behavioral, Epidemiologic, and Behavior Epidemiology Health Services Research (BESHR) Group of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR), and the Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC) in Uganda.

His current research focuses on the barriers to accessing healthcare services and patterns of healthcare utilization among equity-seeking populations, including people with low socioeconomic status, people living with HIV, 2SLGBTQ+ community members, and Indigenous peoples. Dr. Jessani is a strong advocate for minority health, including gender-diverse communities. In the area of global health, his work addresses the prevalence of oral diseases in key populations, including men who have sex with men, transgender and gender diverse people, fisherfolks, commercial sex workers, and other vulnerable groups in East Africa.