Camile S. Farah BDSc, MDSc (OralMed OralPath), PhD, GCEd (HE), GCExLead, FRACDS (OralMed), FOMAA, FIAOO, FICD, FPFA

Dr. Camile Farah is Professor of Oral Oncology, Head of the School of Dentistry, and Director of the Oral Health Centre of WA, at the University of Western Australia.

Professor Farah is a registered specialist in Oral Medicine and Oral Pathology with sub-specialty training in Oral Oncology. He has interests in clinical oral medicine (oral mucosal pathology, salivary gland diseases, orofacial pain), diagnostic head and neck pathology (oral cancer and precancer), and oral and maxillofacial radiology (bone pathology and Cone Beam CT). He maintains a part-time private practice in Oral Medicine, is Consultant Oral Pathologist to Qscan Radiology Clinics, a member of the Head & Neck Cancer Multidisciplinary Team at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Perth, and Director of the Australian Centre for Oral Oncology Research & Education (ACORE), where he undertakes clinical and translational research into head and neck cancer early detection, molecular diagnostics, and imaging.

Professor Farah obtained his undergraduate dental degree from the University of Western Australia (1996), and practiced dentistry while completing a PhD in Oral Pathology & Immunology (2000), and his specialist training in Oral Medicine & Oral Pathology (2002) at the University of Queensland. He gained further experience in oral diagnostic sciences in Oral Medicine at the Eastman Dental Institute, University College London with Professor Stephen Porter and Dr Tim Hodgson (2004). He also holds a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education (2005) and a Graduate Certificate in Executive Leadership (2013).

Professor Farah is a Fellow of the Oral Medicine Academy of Australasia, the International Academy of Oral Oncology, the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons (Oral Medicine), the International College of Dentists, and the Pierre Fauchard Academy. In addition, he is the recipient of many national and international awards, scholarships and honours. He serves on the editorial boards for several journals, and is a regular speaker at national and international meetings. He is the Past President of the Oral Medicine Academy of Australasia and served as its Inaugural President, President of the Australian & New Zealand Division of the International Association for Dental Research, Vice Chairman of the Australian Dental Research Foundation and Chairman of its Research Advisory Committee.

Professor Farah has many years’ experience in dental academia, research, industry and the private sector. Prior to taking on the role of Head of School at UWA, Professor Farah served as Deputy Head of School at UQ (2009-2012), and previously Head of Department of Oral Biology & Pathology (2007-2008). He has held various leadership roles in dental academia with directorships in Teaching & Learning, Curriculum Development, Research, Clinical Services, Internationalisation, Placements and External Affairs. He has also overseen a private practice in Oral Medicine and Clinical Oral Pathology in Brisbane since 2002 and the Qscan Centre for Dental Imaging since 2004.

Professor Farah has authored 120 peer reviewed publications including 10 book chapters, and has attracted approximately $5 million in competitive research funding. His research interests in oral oncology span optical imaging systems (Optical Fluorescence Imaging and Narrow Band Imaging), molecular genomics (Next Generation Sequencing), and clinical trials in early cancer detection and surgical margin delineation.

Professor Farah has collaborations with industry partners including LED Dental (Velscope), Star Dental (Identafi), Olympus (Narrow Band Imaging), Henry Schein Halas, Colgate Palmolive, Agilent Technologies (microRNA arrays, exome sequencing), and Life Technologies (SOLiD, Ion Torrent, Ion Proton) and works with these companies to extend R&D and clinical use of new products and technology, while also identifying commercialization opportunities for his work specifically in the area of molecular diagnostics.

Professor Farah established ACORE in an effort to leverage his academic, clinical and industry partnerships for the advancement of oral oncology translational research, personalized patient care, patient and clinician education and professional development, and overall advocacy for patients with head and neck cancer.