Dr Jilen Patel is a specialist paediatric dentist, senior lecturer in clinical dentistry at the UWA Dental School and a consultant at Perth Children’s Hospital. Dr Patel is passionate about translational research and completed his specialist training at UWA and Princess Margaret Hospital for Children.

His journey began as an intern, volunteering as part of the Kimberley Dental Team providing dental services to remote communities across the Kimberley region. Since then, he has continued to play an active role in developing oral health policy and practice for underserved communities.

His research interests cover the areas of dental public health, paediatric dentistry, cariology and rural and remote oral health. More recently, Dr Patel has been involved with creating an integrated, multidisciplinary oral health education and prevention program for refugee children. His work has led to the implementation of an Australian-first, randomised controlled clinical trial aiming to arrest dental caries among refugee children. As part of the cleft and craniofacial department at Perth Children's Hospital, he has also pioneered the use of optical scanning and digitial design to inform the care of neonates with cleft lip and palate.