Stephen Ferrier first visited The University of Western Ontario 15 years ago. So when he had the opportunity to return to the school, he jumped at the chance.
The Glasgow, Scotland native came to Western as a dental student on elective study, which is a trip to learn how different cultures approach dentistry.
“I was really struck by the place, and I thought it was really, really nice,” says Ferrier.
He was looking for a job last year when he saw Western was advertising. “It was a bit of serendipity.”
Ferrier joined the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry’s restorative dentistry division as an assistant professor in restorative dentistry. He came from the University of Leeds in England where he had been working as a clinical lecturer.
Ferrier completed his doctorate at the University of Dundee in Scotland in 2004. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the same school in 1993.
His doctorate research was about AC impedance spectroscopy, which is the use of electrical currents to measure tooth decay. The more decay there is, the more water is in the teeth and the more electricity can be conducted through them, says Ferrier.
“When dental enamel decays, it becomes porous. And the pores hold water and essentially the enamel becomes more electrically conductive,” he explains.
He holds four patents on an AC impedance spectroscopy device developed during his thesis work.
Ferrier’s current research continues to focus on dental decay, especially early treatment. He has always been interested in dental decay research.
One of his first papers involved studying an urban myth – whether eating cheese with your meals was good for your teeth. His research showed that it was good at preventing dental decay because of the calcium in the cheese.
Ferrier also worked in dental practice in Newcastle, England between earning his bachelor’s degree and his PhD. He worked in a general setting for one year, and then spent two years working in a hospital. He earned a fellowship in dental surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons of England while practising in the hospital.
Ferrier was popular with his students at Leeds.
“When he left from Leeds, there were many hundreds of students that turned out for his leaving day,” his identical twin brother, Colin, says from his home in Dumferline, Scotland.
Ferrier’s favourite part of his job at Western is the variety.
“It’s a nice mix of science and clinical practice,” he says. “You’re doing scientific research one day, and you’re doing teaching and you’re doing clinical service.”
Ferrier enjoys a mix of activities outside of dentistry too. He took up snow skiing “at the grand old age of 29” in Killington, Vermont while on a trip with his twin. They gave themselves two weeks to learn to ski.
“It was a very scientific decision really,” says Colin. “It was conducted almost like an experiment.”
Ferrier recently took up running. He said it cuts 20 minutes off his commuting time.
He is also a music lover who plans to take piano lessons. Already a guitarist and drummer, Ferrier was inspired to tickle the ivories after watching a recital at Western.
When Ferrier moved to Canada last winter, he said he did not give the decision much thought.
“I’ve sort of moved around a lot, and I came to like working in new places,” he said.
But there are drawbacks to living abroad, away from his immediate family and friends. “I miss not being able to get in the car and see them.”
But Ferrier is happy to be at Western because of the colleagues and students he gets to interact with.
“It’s a real university – university in the truest sense of the word,” says Ferrier. “There’s a lot of people from a lot of places, and there’s a lot of great ideas.”
Stephen Ferrier
Family: Three siblings – an older sister, an older brother and his twin
Favourite authors: J.K. Rowling and William Shakespeare
Favourite sonnet: Shakespeare’s Sonnet #2
Favourite music: Classical, funk, anything from the ’90s
Favourite sports: Skiing, running, swimming
The writer is a graduate student studying Journalism. This feature profiles faculty members hired over the past two years.