HYDERABAD: Organisers of DentaCon 2026 have announced the event’s keynote speakers, pre-event webinar faculty and competition judging panels, adding a broad mix of dental academics, clinicians, educators and emerging professionals to the programme scheduled for October 10, 2026, at Mumtaz Mirza Auditorium, Hyderabad.
The line-up gives participants a clearer picture of the academic and professional expertise that will shape the event, particularly its three competitive formats covering research ideas, electronic poster presentation and short-form dental communication.
Organised by The DentEd Collective, DentaCon 2026 is being developed around the theme “Resetting How We Create, Learn and Innovate — Ctrl + Alt + Dentistry.” The programme combines educational sessions, competition, research communication and networking for dental students and early-career professionals.
Dental News Pakistan is the media partner for DentaCon 2026.
Pre-event webinars to feature medical education experts
The pre-event webinar programme will feature Dr Farhan Vakani, who holds BDS, MSc, MCPS and PhD qualifications in Medical Education, alongside Dr Ayesha Hanif, whose listed qualifications include BDS, MDS in Periodontology, MSc Clinical Education from Edinburgh and MAcadMed.
Their inclusion strengthens the educational component surrounding the main event, which organisers had earlier said would extend beyond competition into structured learning and professional development.
The webinars are expected to serve as an academic lead-in to the October 10 programme, while the main event will place participants before specialist panels drawn from different areas of dentistry, education, research and communication.
Three keynote speakers announced
The keynote programme will feature Professor Dr Kashif Ikram, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Baqai Medical University and Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
He will be joined by Professor Dr Salman Shafique, Professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, MHPE Scholar at Aga Khan University, and Dean of Isra Dental College.
The third keynote speaker is Dr Syed M. Faizan, BDS, MSc, DICOI, an implantologist and Director of Vanguard Dental Clinic and Vanguard Dental School.
The three speakers bring different institutional and professional perspectives to a programme that is seeking to connect conventional dental education with research, contemporary clinical practice and newer forms of professional communication.
Research Pitch Competition gets senior academic judging panel
One of the closely watched components of DentaCon 2026 will be its Research Pitch Competition, previously announced as 100 Seconds – The Research Idea Competition.
Participants in the format are expected to communicate a research concept within a tightly limited presentation window, placing emphasis not only on the scientific basis of the idea but also on clarity, relevance and the ability to explain it effectively.
The judging panel will include Professor Dr Uzma Zareef, whose listed qualifications include BDS, RDS, MCPS, MDS, CHPE, C-Ortho, C-Implant and FICCDE. She is listed as a consultant maxillofacial surgeon and general dentist at LCMD.
She will be joined by Professor Dr Ambrina Qureshi, Principal and Chairperson at Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) and Professor and Head of the Department of Community and Preventive Dentistry.
The inclusion of experienced academic and clinical judges places greater emphasis on the quality of the research concept and its communication — an area increasingly relevant to dental students and young clinicians seeking to build academic and research profiles.
E-Poster Challenge to be assessed by three-member panel
The E-Poster Competition, earlier announced as In Sight – The Research E-Poster Challenge, will be judged by Professor Dr Salman Shafique, Professor Dr Abdul Bari Memon and Professor Dr Ali Maqbool Khuwaja.
Professor Dr Abdul Bari Memon, BDS, MSc, PhD, is Chairperson of the Department of Community Dentistry at Bibi Aseefa Dental College, Larkana.
Professor Dr Ali Maqbool Khuwaja holds a Master’s in Health Professional Education and is listed as a medical educationalist, former Vice-Principal of BMDC, and Professor and Head of the Department of Health Professions Education and Oral Biology.
The competition gives participants an opportunity to present scientific work in an electronic visual format, testing their ability to organise research findings, communicate them concisely and defend the relevance of their work before an academic panel.
Cavity Cut brings dental communication into focus
DentaCon’s third competition, Cavity Cut, moves away from conventional academic presentation and into short-form digital communication.
The reel-based contest has been designed around the growing role of digital media in explaining dentistry to professional and public audiences.
Its judging panel will include Dr Syed M. Faizan; Dr Rizwan Hassan, BDS from DUHS and MBA in Health Management, Assistant Manager in the Dental Outreach Department and Lead of the AI Facilitation Cell at Liaquat College of Medicine and Dentistry; Dr Maryum Yousuf, Dental News podcaster and valedictorian of the Jinnah Sindh Medical University Batch of 2024; and Dr Sahar Naveed, dentist and aesthetician, Chief Executive Officer of MUSK Aesthetics & Dentistry, creator of MUSK Superheroes Scrubs, and creator and administrator of the BDS Support Group.
The panel reflects the different skills the competition is intended to test — including clinical understanding, audience engagement, digital presentation and the ability to turn a dental message into concise, accessible content.
Competition, education and professional exposure under one programme
DentaCon 2026 was initially announced with three competition tracks — Cavity Cut, 100 Seconds – The Research Idea Competition, and In Sight – The Research E-Poster Challenge — alongside webinars, keynote sessions and professional networking.
The newly announced faculty and judging panels provide further detail on how those elements will be delivered.
For students and fresh graduates, the programme creates an opportunity to have their work viewed by established academics and professionals while also observing how research, education, clinical dentistry and communication increasingly intersect.
That combination is particularly relevant as young dental professionals are being expected to do more than demonstrate clinical competence alone. Research literacy, presentation skills, digital communication and the ability to explain scientific ideas to different audiences are becoming increasingly important across academic and professional settings.
Registration remains a key step for participants
In its earlier registration announcement, DentaCon 2026 listed a registration fee of Rs1,500, with prospective participants advised to study the individual rules of each competition before submitting entries because the three formats follow different requirements.
Organisers had also indicated that participation would be offered on a limited-seat basis.
Those planning to compete should therefore pay particular attention to the category they intend to enter, as a research pitch, an electronic research poster and a reel-based communication entry require substantially different preparation.
Registrations can be submitted through the official DentaCon 2026 registration form: https://forms.gle/SrjiSDnymRsqAA12A
The event will take place on October 10, 2026, at Mumtaz Mirza Auditorium, Hyderabad.
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