Stephen J. Challacombe

He developed the Challacombe scale for measuring the extent of dryness of the mouth in human beings. It was launched in 2011 at Tylney Hall in Hampshire[8] and has become widely used as a medical tool for assessing and monitoring dry mouth.[9][10][11]

Challacombe became involved in clinical research in oral HIV and AIDS, and has chaired international workshops on the oral manifestations of HIV infection in the UK, South Africa, Thailand, China, and India. In 1991 and 1993, he contributed to the consensus meeting on the classification of oral lesions in HIV.[1][3]

He was chairman of the International Steering Committee on Oral Health and Disease in HIV infection between 2000 and 2017.[3]

In 2011, he led the team that laid out research challenges of global health inequalities and oral health, particularly relating to Noma, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted disease and HIV, four of the most serious global oral health infections.[12][13][14] With regards to clinical signs in the mouth in AIDS, he identified a significant role for dentists.[13]

Later, using Sierra Leone as a case study to develop oral health programmes in low-income countries, he worked with the King's Sierra Leone Partnership's dentistry section,[15] as a member of The Kings Centre for Global Health.[1]

In 2020, he co-authored a review which proposed using povidone-iodine to reduce cross-infectivity of COVID-19,[16] and highlighted the role of saliva in the transmission of the disease.[17]

As a historian of medicine, his lectures have included a series on the London medical students at Belsen.[18]

Challacombe is a recipient of a number of awards including:

• Colgate (Hatton) Research Prize, British Division, IADR (1977)[5]
• Kendall-Hench Research Fellowship, Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, USA (1978)[5]
• Basic Research in Oral Science Award, IADR. (1981)[5]
• Distinguished Scientist Award for Experimental Pathology, IADR, (1997)[5]
• DSc (h.c.), University of Athens (2012)[5]
• American Academy of Oral Medicine Samuel Charles Miller award (2018)[5][19]
• Distinguished Alumni Award of the Mayo Clinic (2017).[4]

Stephen Challacombe, Hunterian Society (October 2019)

He has been president of:

• International Association for Dental Research (IADR) (2003)[5]
• British Society for Oral and Dental Research (2000–02)[5]
• British Society for Oral Medicine (1996–98)[5]
• Odontological section of Royal Society of Medicine (1997–98)[5]
• British Dental Association (BDA) Metropolitan Branch (2000–01)[5]
• European Association of Oral Medicine (2008–10)[5]
• Hunterian Society (2006-7), (2018–19)[5]
• History of Medicine Society (2019–20)[5]

He has also been president of the world's oldest rugby club, Guy's Hospital RFC.[1][20]

He was chairman of:

• International steering committee on Oral Health & Disease in AIDS (2000–17)[5]
• Mucosal immunology group of the British Society for Immunology (1987-1992)[5]
• NIDCR OHARA External Experts Advisory panel (2007- 2013)[5]

He is a fellow of the:

• Royal College of Pathologists[5]
• Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh[5]
• Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom (1998)[5]
• King's College, London (2010)[21]
• Royal College of Surgeons of England[6]

• Challacombe, S J; Tomasi, T B (1 December 1980). "Systemic tolerance and secretory immunity after oral immunization" (PDF). Journal of Experimental Medicine. Rockefeller University Press. 152 (6): 1459–1472. doi:10.1084/jem.152.6.1459. ISSN 0022-1007. PMC 2186016. PMID 7452148. S2CID 17098839. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2019.
• “Salivary Antibodies and Systemic Tolerance in Mice after Oral Immunization with Bacterial Antigens”, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. June 1983, doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1983.tb26868.x
• "Oral mucosal lesions : what the general practitioner needs to know", Wynnum, Qld (2009), DVD-ROM
• "Beijing Declaration 2009". Advances in Dental Research, 25 March 2011, doi:10.1177/0022034511399085
• "Clinical assessment of oral dryness: development of a scoring system related to salivary flow and mucosal wetness". Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, and Oral Radiology. November 2012, Volume 114, Issue 5, Pages 597–603, doi:10.1016/j.oooo.2012.05.009. (With S.M. Osailan, R. Pramanik, B. P. Shirlawb, G.B. Proctor)
• "The mouth and AIDS: lessons learned and emerging challenges in global oral health: introduction". Oral Diseases, (2016) 22 (Suppl. 1), 5–6. doi:10.1111/odi.12426. (With AR Tappuni and K Ranganathan)
• "Global oral inequalities in HIV infection". Oral Diseases (2016) 22 (Suppl. 1), pp. 35–41 doi:10.1111/odi.12408
• "Dry Mouth and Clinical Oral Dryness Scoring Systems". Primary Dental Journal, 2016 Feb 1;5(1):77-79. PMID 29029657. (With P. Das)
• "Fortitude and resilience in service of the population: a case study of dental professionals striving for health in Sierra Leone". British Dental Journal Open. 2019; 5: 7. Published online 2019 May 13. doi:10.1038/s41405-019-0011-2

• Advances in Mucosal Immunology : Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress of Mucosal Immunology, co-authored with Thomas T MacDonald, Paul W Bland, Christopher R Stokes, Richard V Heatley, Allan Mcl Mowat Dordrecht, Springer Netherlands, (1990), ISBN 9789400918481, OCLC 840304723
• Food allergy, co-authored with Jonathan Brostoff, Saunders, (1998), Clinics in immunology and allergy, v. 2, no. 1. OCLC 9254958
• Food Allergy and Intolerance, co-authored with Jonathan Brostoff, Saunders (2002) ISBN 9780702020384
• Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine: The Basis of Diagnosis and Treatment, Churchill Livingstone