About our Board

 Paul was born and raised in London, Ontario. He graduated from the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario, in 1972. He graduated with his BSc. from Western, in 1975.Paul started and owned his general dental practice in London for 42 years and he continued to practice dentistry until December 2018. He feels that retirement might take hold now, and wonders why he has less free time than when he was fully employed. Paul has been, and continues to be, an Adjunct Clinical Professor for 38 years, at the Schulich Dental School; served two 6 year terms as an ODA Councilor; became President of the London and District Dental Society, (LDDS), in 2005 and volunteers in the DOCS program, (Dental Outreach Community Service),in London. Presently, Paul is a member of the ODA Articles and By-Laws Sub Committee; Chair of the Honours and Awards Committee for the LDDS; and Secretary for the American College of Dentists, Ontario Section. For his Community, Paul has been active as a hockey and soccer coach, as well as teaching Sunday School and as a leader in Scouts Canada. Recently, he was elected as the Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Merrymount Family Support and Crisis Centre, in London. Paul is happily married to his lovely wife Karen, of 43 years. Together they have three successful adult children and 4 grandchildren. and together they spoil their grandchildren without mercy and enjoy travel. 

 Shauna Hachey, Dip DH, BDH, MHS, RDH, is a licensed dental hygienist with over 18 years of clinical experience, and an Associate Professor in the School of Dental Hygiene, Faculty of Dentistry at Dalhousie University. She is the co-lead of the Dalhousie Healthy Populations Institute Putting “Oral Health is Health” into Action flagship project, which is committed to improving the oral and overall health status of Nova Scotians and aims to enhance oral care strategies and accessibility through interdisciplinary research. Relatedly, Shauna’s research interests include the integration of oral health professionals in primary healthcare and the integration of oral health into the education and practice of health professionals. As well, Shauna is passionate about oral health policy to improve the oral health of priority populations who are at an increased risk for oral disease and experience barriers to care. Shauna has completed a Diploma in Dental Hygiene (2004) and a Bachelor of Dental Hygiene (2012) at Dalhousie University. She obtained a Master of Health Studies degree from Athabasca University in 2017. As well, Shauna has completed the McGill Faculty of Dentistry Summer Institute in Mixed Methods in Health Research and the TUTOR-PHC (Transdisciplinary Understanding and Training on Research in Primary Health Care) program at Western University. Shauna lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia with her husband Jordan. When not working, she likes to spend time with family and friends at their cottage, traveling and tackling home projects.  

Elizabeth Morch has taught in the Camosun College Dental Hygiene Program for 30 years. Her teaching passion includes developing innovative approaches to engage students in learning. She has taught clinical theory, pharmacology, periodontology, oral pathology and professional practice. She is an item writer for the National Board Exam, a Prior Learning Assessor (PLAR) for the College of Dental Hygienists of BC and a CDHBC clinical examiner. My passion for dentistry began at an early age when I worked with my father, a dentist in our local community. As a clinical dental hygienist and long term dental hygiene educator at Camosun College, I am dedicated to igniting the passion and curiosity in students, mentoring the development of professional clinicians and improving access to dental care for all patients. My past projects included the creation of the first online dental hygiene course in Canada, collaborating with UBC to provide dental hygiene care in Haida Gwaii and implementing the principles of Universal Design into teaching and learning. My current project is the first clinical research project at Camosun, a qualitative study on how to desensitize patients with special needs to the dental environment.  This journey began when a group of colleagues in Dental Programs created a series of learning modules for Special Olympics. During this project, it became evident that clinicians and caregivers were in need of support to meet the needs of patients with special needs including intellectual disabilities. The initial research was presented at the International Federation of Dental Hygiene Conference in Brisbane Australia in 2019.

The possibilities for future endeavours to meet the needs of special needs patients in our community is endless and the benefit to our graduates immeasurable. The intended outcome of this project is improve access to dental care and to implement teaching and learning strategies to build capacity in our future graduates in how to provide care to clients with special needs. It is our hope that Camosun College becomes a resource for caregivers of individuals with special needs and a leader in educating health care providers on best practices for the provision of dental care. 

She is the proud mother of three daughter and a doting grandmother to her four year old grandson. She is an avid sports enthusiast who enjoys tennis, golf, paddleboarding, kayaking as well as cooking for family and friends. 

Joan has previously joined CSDH Board members for panel discussions and presentations and she is now excited to join the CSDH as Chair of the newly established CSDH Advocacy Committee. Joan is a retired lawyer who practised insurance and health law for financial institutions and health authorities. Joan was formerly Vice President Law, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of a Canadian life and health insurer. She was a Director and the Governance Chair of Community Living B.C., a B.C. Crown Agency, a Director of the B.C. Cancer Agency Research Ethics Board, and Vice President and Director of the Developmental Disabilities Association. Joan is a former Adjunct Professor (Insurance Law) and Visiting Scholar at the UBC Faculty of Law and received an adjunct appointment from the UBC Faculty of Dentistry to co-supervise a dental graduate student. She received a Law Foundation grant to write Help! Teeth Hurt: Government’s Obligation to Provide Timely Access to Dental Treatment to BC Adults who have Developmental Disabilities. Joan created the Help! Teeth Hurt Dental Clinic Project to improve access to dental treatment for adults with developmental disabilities and to train dental professionals to treat these adults. Help! Teeth Hurt won the UBC Start an Evolution competition. The Vancouver Foundation provided funding for Joan to draft a Business Case to the BC Minister of Health for a Specialized Dental Clinic for adults with special needs. In 2020 Joan received a Merit Award from the Canadian Association of Public Health Dentistry, of which she is a member, and an Award from Honourable Joyce Murray, Federal Minister of Digital Government, in recognition of her volunteer work in her community. Joan is a member of the Citizens Advisory Board of the Network for Canadian Oral Health Research. The NCOHR receives support from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and recently established a Research Working Group for Disability and Oral Health. Joan and her husband Dennis have two children. Their son, Graeme, lives with autism. Joan’s passion for specialized dental care for adults with developmental differences arose as she realized how difficult it was to obtain adequate dental care for her son Graeme as he aged. Joan looks forward to her future advocacy work with the CSDH to promote access to oral health care for Canadians with special needs.

Wabishki mitadim ojichidaa ikwe / White Horse Warrior Woman, Dr. Sheri McKinstry is Anishinaabekwe from Treaty 1 territory and a proud member of Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. She and her husband raised their four children in Manitoba, where they resided until relocating to Treaty 6 Territory and Homeland of the Métis in 2020. Dr. McKinstry completed a Bachelor of Science at the University of Manitoba in 2001; and went on to attain a Bachelor of Science in Dentistry and a Doctor of Dental Medicine in 2005, also from the University of Manitoba. Upon graduation from dental school, she provided dental care in First Nation communities for over a decade until she left to specialize in pediatric dentistry. During this time, Dr. McKinstry started a Bachelor of Arts in Native Studies/Sociology and obtained a Master of Public Health in 2017, specifically in Indigenous Peoples’ Health from the University of Victoria. Here, her area of focus was Reconciliation and Cultural Safety in Dentistry. In 2020, she completed the Master of Dentistry and the Paediatric Dentistry Residency program at the University of Manitoba, where her research focus was on the oral heath experience of First Nations children. She is in her first year of a Ph.D. program at the University of Saskatchewan, and just launched the Indigenous Dental Association of Canada.  Dr. McKinstry is a Fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada in pediatric dentistry.

Dr. Sharat Pani is an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Dentistry at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry. He has over 60 peer reviewed publications in the field of clinical pediatric dentistry and special care dentistry. His research interests center around the biopsychosocial model of disease and seek to combine the fields of epidemiology, behaviour sciences and clinical pediatric dentistry. Dr.Pani has been involved in both clinical dental care and research on the oral health status of individuals with special healthcare needs in several countries including India, Saudi Arabia and Canada.

Sharat is a member of the executive committee of the International Association of Disability and Oral Health and has authored several papers on the oral health of individuals with special health care needs. He is also the chair of the disability and oral health working group of the Network for Collaborative Oral Health Research (NCOHR) .

He practices paediatric dentistry in the Children’s Dental Clinic of the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, where his service activities include provide comprehensive dental care for children from lower income families through the Healthy Smiles Ontario program.

Sharat lives in London with his wife and son and enjoys mountain biking and running. As someone who saw snow for the first time in Canada, he enjoys running through London’s many trails in winter.

Steve Lipinski earned his degree, Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS), from the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto in 1980.

He has been in private practice from 1980 until 2015.

As an adjunct to private dental practice, Dr Lipinski treats adult patients with developmental disabilities in hospital under general anesthesia at Trillium Health Partners, Credit Valley hospital for over 30 years.

Steve pursued a passion in Dental Sleep Medicine and became a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine in 2019.

His practice is currently limited to hospital dentistry for adults with developmental disabilities, and medical collaborative management of obstructive sleep apnea with mandibular advancement devices.

He has given talks on this emerging field to several dental societies and spoken at hospital Family Practice Medicine rounds.

Steve enjoys contributing to organized dentistry and has sat on multiple committees at the ODA and HPDA. For his contribution to organized dentistry Steve has received both the ODA award of merit and the ODA governance leadership award.

Dr Lipinski is moved and excited to serve on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Society for Disability and Oral Health. He believes in community, where every person is socially and economically secure, and where the state is politically and administratively inclusive and fair. 

Steve is looking forward to working collaboratively through advocacy, research and education so that Canadians of all ages living with disabilities receive the highest quality oral health care.

Steve has two children and three grandchildren. He enjoys his grandchildren immensely and finds being called “Pappi” most life affirming.

He enjoys back country canoeing, blue water sailing and ‘dabbling with projects around the house’.