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Research Areas:

Dental Hygiene Education; Educational Research, Development and Curriculum; Community, Preventive, and Public Health Dentistry; Scholarship of Teaching and Learning with Emerging Technology; Comprehensive Care and General Dentistry; Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Care.

Teaching Areas:

Dental Hygiene Theory and Practice and Pre-Clinical Simulation Practice

Salima Alibhai received her Master's in Public Health and Community Medicine and a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene from the University of Washington. She completed a fellowship in Special Care Dentistry from the University of Washington's Dental Education and Care for the Disabled (DECoD) program. Upon graduation, she worked with Seattle Colleges and the University of Washington as Joint Faculty. Aside from working in private practice for several years, Salima also worked at the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, while continuing her dental community outreach with the University of Washington's Oral Health Collaborative (UWC). From 2015 to 2017, she volunteered to build the first dental hygiene program at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan, the first of its kind in the developing world. She was subsequently appointed program director from 2018 to 2023. In her current role as Program Director and Assistant Professor of Teaching at the University of British Columbia's Dental Hygiene Degree Program, Salima is responsible for the overall administration of the program, its operations, supervision, evaluation, and curriculum renewal. She is the recipient of the University of Washington School of Public Health's 50 Changemaker of Public Health Award, the FDI World Dental Federation's Global Award for Best Campaign by a Dental Clinic, the Aga Khan University Award for Innovation in Teaching and Education, the HuFriedy Golden Scaler Award for Excellence in Oral Health Promotion, and the Achievement Award from the American Academy of Dentistry for Persons with Disabilities. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, United Kingdom, and was selected as one of eleven inaugural faculty members for the Aga Khan University's Teachers Academy membership. Salima completed the American Dental Education Association's (ADEA) Allied Dental Faculty Leadership Development Program in 2021 and is currently a member of the University of British Columbia's Academic Leadership Development Program.