Jules Kieser BSc BDS PhD DSc FLS FDSRCS(Ed) FFSSoc

I was born in 1950 in Pretoria, South Africa. After obtaining a BSc from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1971, I qualified as a dentist in 1975. Having completed my compulsory Army year, I went into practice first in the outback of S. Africa and subsequently in London and Johannesburg. While in practice, I received a PhD in 1989 and was appointed as Reader in Craniofacial Biology and also Honorary Professor of Anatomy at Wits. In 1996 I was appointed to the Chair, and Head of the Department of Oral Sciences, University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. I subsequently obtained a DSc in 2001 and was awarded an ad hominem Fellowship in Dental Surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. I was recently elected as a professional Fellow of the Forensic Science Society (UK). In 2009 I was appointed as the inaugural Director of the Sir John Walsh Research Institute.

My current research interests are related to functional, forensic and clinical aspects of craniofacial biology. Specifically, my research is divided into three areas; Craniofacial Biomechanics, Forensic Biology and Education Research. Craniofacial biomechanics at Otago University is a collaborative area of research between myself and Michael Swain, Ionut Ichim, Neil Waddell and Andrew Quick. We collaborate widely with a range of colleagues locally and overseas and we form part of the Biomouth Project. The long range goal of our group is to understand the biomechanics of mastication and swallowing, to develop novel restorative paradigms and o develop new food products that combat obesity. Forensic Biology research is focused on the biomechanics of trauma, bacteriology of bitemarks and bacterial decomposition. I collaborate with Michael Taylor and Jaqui Horswell of ESR, with Russel Poulter (Biochemistry), Keith Probert (Marine Sciences) and Debora Carr (Clothing & Textile Sciences). Within the Faculty, forensic biology research is a collaborative effort with Michael Swian, Ionut Ichim, Neil Waddell, Geoffrey Tompkins, Norman Firth and Ross Meldrum. As student centered learning is a desired outcome, my Education Research has focused on PBL (especially our own novel teaching method, Context Rich Problems), Professionalism in education and finally on the role of narrative in teaching. I collaborate with Tony Harland (HEDC), Grant Townsend (University of Adelaide) and Gloria Dal'Alba (University of Queensland) and locally, with Alison Meldrum and Tomas Kardos.