Matthew Scott Hopcraft (born 1971) is an Australian dentist, public health academic and television cook.

Early life

Hopcraft was raised in country Victoria and attended

Mooroopna Mooroopna is a rural town located north of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is on the banks of the Goulburn River opposite the larger town of Shepparton. The Midland Highway crosses the river between the two towns. At the 2016 census, Moor ...

Secondary College. He has the degrees of Bachelor of Dental Science, Master of Dental Science and Doctor of Philosophy from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, and Bachelor of Arts from

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

Career

Upon graduation, Hopcraft served as a Dental Officer in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

, and worked in both public and private dental practices. Hopcraft was the Director, Assessments and Examinations at the Australian Dental Council and is an Honorary Clinical Associate Professor at the

Melbourne Dental School The Melbourne Dental School is one of the graduate schools of the University of Melbourne. In addition to the 4-year graduate dental program the Doctor of Dental Surgery, the school offers specialty training programs combined with the Doctor of ...

of The

. He was a member of the Council of the Victorian branch of the

Australian Dental Association The Australian Dental Association (ADA) is a national body for the dental profession in Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia ( ...

from 2005 to 2016, President in 2011 and a federal councillor for 2 years. He is currently co-director of Sugar-free Smiles, an organisation raising awareness of the health impacts of high sugar diets and advocating for the introduction of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. He has been widely cited by the media on matters related to dental health.

MasterChef

Hopcraft was selected in the Top 24 contestants in the 2015 reality television cooking program ''

MasterChef Australia ''MasterChef Australia'' is an Australian competitive cooking reality show based on the original British ''MasterChef''. It is produced by Endemol Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Cal ...

''. He was eliminated on 16 July 2015, finishing in sixth place. His post-MasterChef career saw him release a cookbook in June 2017 called ''Food to Feed the Family''. () He is currently Associate Professor in Professional Practice at the Melbourne Dental school, and was formerly the CEO of the Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch.

Awards

*2004 – Colonel MGT Kenny Award for exemplary service to the Royal Australian Army Dental Corps *2010 – IADR Geriatric Oral Research Award – Post-doctoral Category

Publications

Hopcraft has been widely published since 2003. A list of his academic publications and presentations is available a
The University of Melbourne website

References

External links

Matthew Hopcraft at Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopcraft, Matthew Living people Australian dentists Australian television chefs MasterChef Australia Participants in Australian reality television series 1971 births Deakin University alumni University of Melbourne alumni Academic staff of the University of Melbourne Australian Army officers Military personnel from Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian military personnel