Dr. Allison gained his dental degree from University College London (UCL) in 1986, a Royal College of Surgeons of England fellowship in 1990, an MSc in dental public health at UCL in 1994, and a PhD in Dental Sciences at McGill University in 1998. He became Assistant Professor at McGill in 1999, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2003 and Full Professor in 2009. He was Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry at McGill during 2008-18 and President of the Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry (ACFD) during 2015-19. He is currently on Governing Council of CIHR. His field of expertise is dental public health, with a particular interest in access to oral health care. He chaired a CAHS panel assessment concerning access to dental care published in 2014.