Newsletter 76 from the Head of Department

INTERNALLY AT THE DEPARTMENT

Thank you for the educational clinical course days in January
Dyslexia was one of the themes at our clinical course days on 21 and 23 January this year, and it was informative and also a great eye-opener. The speakers Thea Lindberg Nejsum, specialist consultant at the Danish Dyslexia Association, and Lene Blinksbjerg, former principal of a secondary school for adolescents with dyslexia, explained, among other things, that dyslexia is genetically determined – you either have it or you don’t, although it can be to different degrees. Thea Lindberg Nejsum also made it clear that people with dyslexia cannot “just” practice reading and writing. Fortunately, there are tools and aids, especially digital ones, that can make reading and writing easier, but otherwise all words must be photographed, memorised precisely and stored in memory in order to be recognised and make sense. This knowledge is important to have in mind for all of us in our daily work as teachers and colleagues.

Audit in weeks 11 and 12: Cleaning of units between patient treatments
In weeks 11 and 12 we will hold the annual audit – a quality assurance of our hygiene regulations, which are based on the National Infection Hygiene Guidelines (NIR). This year we are focusing on whether our units are cleaned according to the guidelines between each patient treatment. The teaching clinical assistants carry out the observation task, which takes place in all clinical departments with patient treatments.

It is important to emphasise that the audit is not about checking or testing the individual employee or student but is solely intended to investigate whether our guidelines are being adhered to and whether the procedures work in everyday clinical practice – otherwise they must be adapted so that they provide the intended safety for patients.

The Department's Hygiene Committee conduct annual audit of our hygiene regulations, and have responsibility for our quality assurance task.

Information security will be a main theme (also) in 2026
If we leave an unlocked computer, click on a link in an email we cannot identify the sender of, or use the same password both at home and at work, we create a security breach that gives hackers and others with bad intentions access to sensitive personal information, confidential research data and critical infrastructure.

Information security is important at IOOS and at Aarhus University for good reason. As part of the work to increase our awareness and common security practices, information security is the main theme of IOOS' joint day in June, focusing on safe behavior and habits in everyday life, responsibility and risk understanding.

The Department's Information Security Committee is at the forefront of the work on data protection and secure handling of sensitive information in the clinic, research, education and administration. The committee puts a lot of effort into anchoring security measures in accordance with applicable legislation and Aarhus University guidelines. Management consultant Maja Thomsen is the IOOS local information security coordinator and performs the coordinating and advisory function at IOOS.

RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND TEACHING

Watch Sebastian Schlafer's high school lecture on oral bacteria
Last September, Professor Sebastian Schlafer gave an online lecture for high schools in Denmark entitled "Bacteria in the mouth - friend or foe [In Danish]". Now the lecture is available to anyone who wants to learn more about our oral bacteria and the body, and what bacteria mean for health and disease.

I highly recommend the 50-minute presentation including questions from the high school students, which is a master class in good, understandable and entertaining communication of an otherwise complex field of research. Log in with the username: livestream and the password: AarhusUni.

New CED courses for teachers in the spring
Do you need new inspiration for your teaching and supervision or do you lack knowledge about a given topic, the university's Centre for Educational Development (CED) has just offered a wide range of spring courses on everything from the use of AI and automated feedback in teaching to being a teacher in a neurodivergent classroom.

The courses are free for employees at Aarhus University and for both seasoned and slightly greener teachers – and if CED doesn’t have the course you’re looking for, they can often create it or offer individual guidance. See the course program on CED’s website.

NEWS ABOUT NAMES

Research year student William Kaaber receives Faculty of Health's Student Research Award 2026
Congratulations to dental student William Kaaber, who was presented with the Faculty of Health’s Student Research Award 2026 at the end of February. William has been a research year student at the Section for Oral Radiology and Endodontics with Professor Lise-Lotte Kirkevang as supervisor, and here he has researched the lifespan of root-filled teeth.

William has published his research project as first author: Effect of Type of Coronal Restoration on Periapical Healing and Tooth Survival of Root Filled Teeth: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in the Australian Endodontic Journal 2025, and he has been invited to present the results at the European Society of Endodontology's congress in Paris. Well done!

Best wishes,

Siri