New pediatric healthcare education institution launches in Dubai
 

(DUBAI) - Dubai is now home to The Pediatric Academy, a newly established pediatric healthcare education organization. The academy aims to support knowledge-sharing among healthcare professionals while providing parents with accessible, evidence-informed information on children's health and development.

Founded by pediatric dentist, author, and international speaker Dr. Rafif Tayara, The Pediatric Academy brings together education on pediatric dentistry, airway health, sleep-disordered breathing, oral function, early facial growth, interceptive orthodontics, and myofunctional therapy.

The Academy’s initial programs focus on an area of children’s healthcare that increasingly requires interdisciplinary cooperation. Breathing patterns, sleep quality, oral habits, tongue function, and facial growth are closely interconnected, yet they are frequently assessed separately by different professionals. “Children do not experience their health in isolated specialties,” said Dr. Tayara. “A child who breathes through the mouth, sleeps poorly, or develops an abnormal oral habit may present different signs to a dentist, pediatrician, ENT specialist, speech therapist, or parent. The Pediatric Academy was created to help connect those observations and encourage earlier, better-informed collaboration.”

The Pediatric Academy has been designed for two distinct but connected audiences. For healthcare professionals, the Academy provides online learning, in-person training, live educational programs, clinical resources and professional mentorship. Its intended community includes pediatric dentists, general dentists, orthodontists, pediatricians, ENT specialists, dental hygienists, speech and feeding therapists, myofunctional therapists and other professionals involved in children’s health and development.

The Academy’s Dubai location will provide a setting for courses, workshops, professional meetings and multidisciplinary knowledge exchange. Its online platform will enable participants from other countries and regions to access education remotely and study at their own pace.

Selected professional courses may carry continuing-education credits. Accreditation and credit information will be specified separately for each eligible program.

For parents and caregivers, the Academy offers accessible educational materials explaining topics such as mouth breathing, snoring, sleep quality, oral habits, early dental development, and signs that may warrant an assessment by an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.

“Our objective is not to encourage parents to diagnose their children,” Dr. Tayara said. “It is to help them recognize when something may deserve attention, ask better questions and find the right professional support. Education can help families act earlier and participate more confidently in decisions about their child’s care.”

The Pediatric Academy also has a European branch in Hilversum, the Netherlands. Its digital programs and educational resources are being developed for an international audience and are available in English, Arabic, French and Dutch.

According to Dr. Tayara, Dubai was a natural home for the institution because of its international population, connectivity and growing role as a meeting point for healthcare professionals from the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe.

“Dubai brings together families, clinicians and educators from an extraordinary range of backgrounds,” she said. “It allows us to build an institution in the Middle East that is global from its foundation—not only in where its participants come from, but also in how different cultures, disciplines and healthcare perspectives are represented.”

Dr. Tayara has nearly two decades of experience in pediatric dentistry, with clinical training and practice spanning North America, the Middle East and the Gulf region. She studied at Saint Joseph University in Beirut and the University of Montreal, and later completed additional training in dental sleep medicine through Tufts University.

She is the co-founder of the Dubai pediatric dental clinic JuniorDental and has spoken internationally on airway development, early orthodontics, minimally invasive pediatric dentistry, and multidisciplinary care. In 2025, she received the publicly voted Best Pediatric Dentist Award from Mother, Baby & Child magazine.

Dr. Tayara is also the author of Danny and Sarah Go to Dr. Smile, a children’s book developed to help reduce anxiety surrounding early dental visits.

“The Academy represents the next stage of a mission that has guided my clinical work for many years,” Dr. Tayara said. “We want to move knowledge beyond the treatment room, strengthen cooperation between professionals and give families practical information that can contribute to healthier childhood development.”

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