Professor Martyn Cobourne elected as next Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery
17 Oct 2025
Congratulations to Professor Martyn Cobourne, who was today elected as Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS) at the October FDS Board meeting.
Professor Martyn Cobourne will take up office on 19 June 2026, succeeding Dr Charlotte Eckhardt, who will demit as Dean after three years of dedicated leadership.
We extend our warmest thanks to Dr Charlotte Eckhardt for her outstanding leadership and commitment to the Faculty over the past three years.
Professor Martyn Cobourne commented:
“I’m very honoured to be appointed Dean elect, and I hope I’ll be able to follow in the excellent footsteps of Charlotte and Matthew before her”.
Find out more about our new Dean below.
Martyn Cobourne is Professor and Academic Head of Orthodontics at King’s College London and Honorary Consultant in Orthodontics at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
He graduated from King’s College School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1990 and after a series of junior hospital posts in Bristol and London undertook specialty training in orthodontics at King’s College Hospital, obtaining his Membership in Orthodontics in 1997.
He was awarded a Medical Research Council Clinical Training Fellowship in 1998 and completed a PhD at the United Medical and Dental Schools, University of London in 2002.
Martyn was appointed as a Senior Lecturer and Hon Consultant in Orthodontics at King’s College London Dental Institute in 2004. His research is primarily focused on investigating the role of molecular signaling pathways during the early development of the head and face. However, he is also interested in the effectiveness of contemporary orthodontic treatment and has led a number of clinical trials investigating treatment efficiency.
He has published over 115 peer-reviewed articles and is the author of two successful orthodontic textbooks.
He was Director of Research at the British Orthodontic Society from 2012-2016 and is currently Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Orthodontics.
He was elected to the Faculty Board in 2017 and is the Chair of the Faculty's Examinations committee.