Professor Paul Coulthard is Dean for Dentistry and Director, School of Medicine and Dentistry, at Queen Mary University of London. He was previously Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health at the University of Manchester and Head of the School of Medical Sciences. This School consisted of the Research Institutes of ‘Cancer Sciences’, ‘Cardiovascular Sciences’, ‘Developmental Biology & Medicine’, ‘Diabetes, Endocrinology & Gastroenterology’, and the ‘Manchester Medical School’ and ‘Manchester Dental School’. Prior to this he was Dean of the Manchester Dental School for five years.

Paul Coulthard is Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Honorary Consultant Oral Surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust. He has a special interest in advanced surgical oral implantology and undertakes oral and maxillofacial reconstruction especially using bone grafting and extra-oral harvesting techniques. He has a special interest in the Control of Pain and Anxiety and especially the use of Conscious Sedation techniques. Paul Coulthard undertakes private practice adult and child oral surgery and also undertakes medicolegal practice.

Professor Coulthard undertook General Clinical Training as a General Dental Practitioner in Manchester and Sheffield. He then undertook Basic Surgical Training in Manchester, Carlisle and London, and also training in Anaesthesia. He completed his Higher Specialist Surgical Training in Academic Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Manchester in 2000. Professor Coulthard was promoted to Senior Lecturer and Head of Department in 2000, Honorary Consultant in 2001, and Personal Chair in 2004.
Alongside surgical training, Professor Coulthard undertook research training leading to the award of an MDS in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and a PhD in Neuroscience.

Professor Coulthard has chaired several committees for NHS England that have published papers changing the delivery of clinical care in England. The Oral Surgery and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Commissioning Guide 2015 was responsible for developing a needs led outcome focussed Care Pathway and producing a single operating Commissioning Framework to deliver improvements in quality and clinical outcomes for England. The Commissioning Dental Services: Service standards for Conscious Sedation in a Primary Care Setting was published 2017. He also Chaired the Committee developing the Commissioning Guide for Supporting Specialties of Oral Microbiology, Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology and Dental and Maxillofacial Radiology.

Paul Coulthard is an Editor with the Cochrane Collaboration Oral Health Group and on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Surgery. He was Editor-in-Chief of Oral Surgery 2013-18. He has a special interest in the Control of Pain and Anxiety and Dental Implantology. Paul Coulthard has supervised over forty MSc, MPhil and PhD students and has published over 180 scientific papers. He designed, introduced and validated the Indicator of Sedation Need (IOSN) tool to support clinician decision making that is also being used by commissioners to identify patients in their populations who need conscious sedation for dental treatment in order to plan and deliver appropriate sedation services. Professor Coulthard is leading research to facilitate a global change in the practice of health professionals and their teams regarding identification and referral of their patients who present with physical injury or other signs that might indicate Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA).

Professor Coulthard is actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and learning. He is passionate about evidence-based practice and teaching this concept to students. The third edition of his textbook Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Radiology, Pathology and Oral Medicine (Master Dentistry Volume 1) was published in May 2013. Professor Coulthard has also co-authored chapters for six other textbooks and has many scientific publications relating to teaching and learning. Professor Coulthard has held many examinerships over the years at institutions across the UK and beyond. He is currently external examiner at UCL and Kuwait University and is the Royal College of Surgeons of England nominated member of the Intercollegiate Examination Board in Oral Surgery.