Vishal Aggarwal

Dr. Vishal Aggarwal is a Clinical Associate Professor at the School of Dentistry, University of Leeds, where he has worked since 2016. His research focuses on chronic orofacial pain, epidemiology, complex interventions, and global health, particularly improving oral health outcomes for vulnerable populations such as people with severe mental illness, Scleroderma, and chronic pain. He pioneered career pathways in academic primary dental care and was the first general dental practitioner to receive a NIHR Clinician Scientist Award.

• Education: BDS (Honors) in Dentistry from the University of Manchester (1998), PhD in Epidemiology (2006), and MPH (Merit) in Public Health (2013).

His research interests span three core areas:

• Pain: Developing evidence-based health technologies for self-management of chronic orofacial pain, including the TMD study and MiTiGate trial.
• Primary Dental Care: Assessing the impact of Amalgam phase-down and improving oral health for people with severe mental illness (SMI) and Scleroderma.
• Global Health: Reducing antibiotic misuse in dentistry in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly in India.

He has secured funding from prestigious organizations such as the Wellcome Trust, NIHR, and UKRI, with grants totaling over £2.5 million. He has supervised PhD students, Masters students, and NIHR In-practice Fellows.

• Professional Memberships: General Dental Council, Society of Academic Primary Care, College of Dentistry, National Oro-facial Pain and TMD Special Interest Group, Royal College of Surgeons of England, and the International Association for the Study on Pain (IASP).