Rate My Professor Dean Sculley

Dr Dean Sculley is a Senior Lecturer in Human Physiology in the School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy at the University of Newcastle, Australia, part of the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing. He earned his BSc (Hons) in Human Biology from the University of Northampton in 1998, MSc in Exercise Physiology from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2000, and PhD from the University of Leicester in 2004 on salivary antioxidant capacity and periodontal disease. Subsequently, he completed a British Heart Foundation-funded postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Nottingham, examining maternal nutritional modulation's impact on fetal programming and offspring development. Joining the University of Newcastle in 2006, he has taught human physiology to undergraduates, coordinating courses HUBS1401 (Human Bioscience) and HUBS3411 (Systems Physiology), and contributing to HUBS1406, HUBS1416, and the preparatory Human Biology course PREP096. He is highly rated for teaching excellence and serves on the School's Peer Review of Teaching panel.

Dr Sculley's research focuses on chronic disease states, including oxidative stress, periodontal disease, developmental programming from maternal undernutrition, and digital health interventions. Early PhD findings established salivary antioxidants' independence from dietary intake and inverse relation to periodontal disease severity. Postdoctoral work revealed maternal undernutrition's effects on offspring antioxidant enzymes and tissue damage, particularly in kidney and liver. Currently, as a founding member of the Chronic Disease eHealth Research Group, he develops mHealth and eHealth tools like the Integrated Clinics app for Type 2 Diabetes and Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis management. Notable publications include: Butler et al. (2024) "Development and Delivery of an Integrated Digital Health Care Approach for Children With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: Usability Study" in JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting; Butler et al. (2024) "Using Digital Health Technologies to Monitor Pain, Medication Adherence and Physical Activity in Young People with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: A Feasibility Study" in Healthcare; and Butler et al. (2022) "Effectiveness of eHealth and mHealth Interventions Supporting Children and Young People Living with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis" in JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting. His fields of research are digital health (60%), health management (20%), and periodontics (20%).