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Institute of Dentistry - Barts and The London
  1. Institute of Dentistry
  2. Study
  3. Postgraduate Research
  4. Supervision

Supervision

Supervisory Team

Once you have identified your primary supervisor from the list below, you will work with her/him and the Director of Graduate Studies to develop your supervisory team.

You are required to have two supervisors from Queen Mary, but you may have additional supervisors. Additional members of the supervisory team can include members of post-doctoral research staff, industrial partners or other external collaborators.

Research Areas and Potential Supervisors

Research in the Institute of Dentistry is organised within multidisciplinary research groups, which provide critical mass of expertise and a fulfilling academic environment.

Major interests within these groups include the following..

Infection and immunity

Research areas:

  • Microbial pathogenesis and virulence
  • Microbial-host interactions and immune defences
  • Naturally occurring antibacterial peptides and other molecules
  • Mucosal immune responses
  • Clinical studies and genetic factors in oral ulceration
  • Cell biology of bone formation and tissue regeneration
  • Risk and prognostic factors in periodontitis

Staff members:

 

Oral cancer

Research areas

  • Oral epithelial ageing and role of telomerase in oral cancer
  • Epithelial stem cells in cancer
  • Keratinocyte biology
  • Biology of tumour invasion and role of integrins
  • Clinical studies of treatments in oral cancer
  • Behavioural factors and smoking cessation 

Staff Members:

Physical sciences in dentistry

Research areas:

  • Physical chemistry of dental caries
  • X-ray microtomography of dental hard tissues
  • Crystallographic studies of enamel and biomaterials
  • Changes in bone structure associated with ageing and tooth loss
  • Salivary proteins in enamel homeostasis and dental caries
  • Biomechanical properties of bone and dental hard tissues
  • Polymer chemistry and dental materials
  • Development of polymers for drug delivery devices

Staff Members:

Clinical and population research

Research Areas:

  • Clinical and population studies on sociopsychological, economic, and behavioural determinants of oral health inequalities
  • Clinical and population studies on tobacco cessation in the oral health environment
  • Clinical and population studies on oral health impact on quality of life population studies on the burden of oral diseases
  • Clinical studies on determinants of treatment outcomes of oral and dental conditions, including oral cancer, Behcet's Syndrome, dry mouth, periodontal diseases, and malocclusion, clinical studies on minimum intervention
  • Development of primary care networks for practice based research
  • Systematic reviews (collaborative work with the Cochrane Oral Heath Group)
  • Behaviour change interventions aimed at preventing chronic diseases and more specifically those aimed at reducing sugars to prevent obesity and dental caries

Staff Members:

  • Dr Valeria Marinho - Senior Lecturer, Centre for Clinical and Diagnostic Oral Sciences
  • Dr Vanessa Muirhead - Clinical Senior Lecturer/Honorary Consultant in Dental Public Health
  • Professor Cynthia Pine - Professor of Dental Public Health; Academic Lead for Dental Public Health at the Institute of Dentistry
  • Professor David Williams - Professor of Global Oral Health, Lead for International Partnerships
  • Dr Huda Yusuf - Clinical Lecturer in Dental Public Health

 

Supervision Meetings

There should be a minimum of ten supervisory meetings per academic year for full-time students (pro rata for part-time students) held at regular intervals up to submission of the thesis for examination. This is broadly one meeting per month.

Supervision may include, one-to-one meetings, telephone conversations or video-link/skype meetings – which is decided between the supervisor and student. Opportunities are also made available for research students and supervisors to meet informally but research group meetings, lab meetings and email conversations are not counted as supervision meetings.

Keeping a record of supervisions is key to a successful outcome. Students and supervisors must use the on-line Supervision Log, which you will be given access to after enrolment, and enter a minimum of ten online reports per academic year for full-time students, five per year for part-time students.