William Papaioannou

William (Vasileios) Papaioannou was born in Greece in 1966 and almost immediately moved to live in the US, where he spent most of his formative years before returning to Greece in his teens, where he got his international baccalaureate and his high-school diploma in 1984. He studied at the Dental School of the Aristotle University, in Thessaloniki, from which he graduated in 1992 with his dental degree.

Following his basic dental studies, William moved to Leuven, Belgium enrolling at the KU Leuven in the Masters’s in Dental Sciences programme, which he completed in 1994. He subsequently completed his diploma of specialisation in periodontology at the department of Periodontology. In 1998 Papaioannou obtained his Doctor in Medical Sciences degree with a magna cum laude distinction, with Prof Marc Quirynen as his promotor and mentor. His doctoral thesis was entitled “The adhesion of Porhphyromonas gingivalis and periodontitis”.

Returning to Greece in 1998, he worked as an unremunerated clinical associate in the School of Dentistry of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, initially in the department of Periodontology (1999 - 2003) and then in the department of Preventive and Community Dentistry (2003 - 2005).

Since then, Dr Papaioannou has served as a member of the faculty of the School of Dentistry, presently as associate professor, in the Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry. He is responsible for the curricular training in the discipline of Dental Prevention, for both graduate and postgraduate students, but also has responsibilities in the clinical training of students in periodontology. Other academic responsibilities include chairing the Committee for International Cooperation and Mobility and the Internal Evaluation Committee at the school. Additionally, since 2000 he owns a private practice in Greece limited to periodontology and dental implants.

His research interests focus on the aetiology and prevention of oral disease, and the diagnosis, treatment and management of periodontal disease and halitosis, as well as dental implant treatment, additional to a special focus on oral microbiology. He has authored over 90 scientific l publications and has given invited presentations at many international meetings.

An officer of the EFP’s Projects Committee since 2023, Dr Papaioannou is also vice president of the Hellenic perio society, as well as immediate past president of the Continental European Division of the International Association for Dental Research, and president of the recent CED/NOF-IADR Oral Health Research Congress in Rhodes, Greece.