Dr Amani Agha, BDS, PGDip, MSc, PhD (Lond), MFGDP (UK)

Profile

I graduated with a BDS, ranked First in the cohort, from the Institute of Dentistry in Syria in 2004. I was subsequently appointed as a teaching assistant in the fixed prosthodontics department, Damascus, Syria, where I completed my speciality training in fixed prosthodontics and obtained a clinical PG diploma and a clinical MSc. I was also teaching and supervising undergraduate dental students in the fixed prosthodontics department for 4 years. I was then funded to do a PhD in the UK in Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, QMUL, in the Dental Physical Sciences unit, which was completed in 2016. Then, in the same department I worked as a post-doc. During this time I successfully passed my statutory exams and obtained full registration with the General Dental Council in 2018. I started working as a lecturer in dental materials in October 2018 within the same department.

Centre: Oral Bioengineering

Teaching

Development and delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching at the institute of Dentistry, QMUL. Organising and providing seminar teaching and formal lectures in Dental Materials science on the undergraduate curriculum and MSc/DClin Dent postgraduate courses. My main interest is to underpin the clinical aspects of Dental Materials science teaching. I’m the dental materials subject convener for the 3rd and 5th year BDS.

Research

Research Interests:

Research interests centres around the development of novel glass ionomer cements (GICs). My PhD work led to the development of novel resin modified glass ionomer cements (RMGICs), which showed lower water uptake, dimensional change and improved biocompatibility compared to commercially available products. The project also focused on the detailed kinetics of water absorption and desorption from RMGICs, mechanical properties testing and collaboration work with the institute of Chemistry to study the release of monomers through high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).  I’m currently the first supervisor of a DClin Dent student, who is further improving the novel cement’s mechanical properties utilising a ceramic reinforced GIC powder.

Other research interests include the detailed kinetics of water absorption and drug delivery through polymeric systems. I have supervised an MSc student, who studied the delivery of salivary like protein through a methacrylate-based delivery system.

Publications

1. Agha A, Parker S, Patel MP. The properties of experimental resin-modified glass-ionomer luting cements (RMGICs) containing novel monomers. Dent Mater. 2017 Sep 20. pii: S0109-5641(17)30082-9. doi: 10.1016/j.dental.2017.08.189.
2. Agha A, Parker S, Patel MP. Development of experimental resin modified glass ionomer cements (RMGICs) with reduced water uptake and dimensional change. Dent Mater. 2016 Jun; 32(6):713-22. doi: 10.1016/j.dental.2016.03.004. Epub 2016 Mar 26.
3. Hoxha A, Gillam DG, Bushby AJ, Agha A, Patel MP. Layered Double Hydroxide Fluoride Release in Dental Applications: A Systematic Review. Dent J (Basel). 2019 Sep 2;7(3). pii: E87. doi: 10.3390/dj7030087.