---
title: "What Is Key opinion leader? Dental Practice Glossary"
description: "A key opinion leader is a clinician whose views on products or methods are valued by peers, and whom companies may ask to speak, teach or give advice."
url: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/key-opinion-leader
publisher: Copeland Consulting Services
email: drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com
contact: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact
---

Credentials and education

# Key opinion leader

A key opinion leader is a clinician whose views on products or methods are valued by peers, and whom companies may ask to speak, teach or give advice.

A key opinion leader, or KOL, is a health care professional whose views other professionals value. Industry papers describe companies that work with KOLs. One 2026 survey notes that medical science liaisons at pharmaceutical, device and diagnostics companies facilitate scientific exchange with KOLs and health care professionals.

The federal Office of Inspector General says payments tied to company speaker programs carry fraud and abuse risks. Audiences should be told about any money or other tie between a speaker and a company.

The short form is [KOL](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/kol). Related roles include a [dental advisory board](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/dental-advisory-board) member and a [brand ambassador](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/brand-ambassador).

[Next stepSpeaking and lectures with Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact?topic=speaking)

## Related terms

-   [KOL](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/kol)
-   [Dental advisory board](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/dental-advisory-board)
-   [Brand ambassador](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/brand-ambassador)
-   [Dental speaker](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/dental-speaker)

## Sources

1.  [PubMed Central: Measuring the Impact of Medical Science Liaisons](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13081017/)
2.  [HHS Office of Inspector General: Special Fraud Alert, Speaker Programs](https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/special-fraud-alerts/865/SpecialFraudAlertSpeakerPrograms.pdf)

## Talk with Dr. Copeland

[Contact Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact)[Email](mailto:drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com)