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Postgraduate

Research degrees in Dentistry

The Institute of Dentistry at Queen Mary has a thriving PhD student community and we welcome applications for MPhil, PhD, MRD (MRES) postgraduate students and visiting research fellows to undertake research in in all fields where we can offer expert supervision.

The Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry is an international Leader in Oral and Dental sciences. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) – a measure of the quality of higher education in the UK – the Institute of Dentistry at Queen Mary was affirmed as the leading dental school for research in the UK.

Our policy is that our dental research should always be in the main stream of biomedical research, contributing to it and at the same time benefiting from strong interdisciplinary links with our colleagues in the rest of the Medical School and the wider College. We provide a friendly, first-class, intellectually stimulating and focused environment for postgraduate study.

Main research areas

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

Major interests within these groups are listed below:

Centre for Oral Immunobiology and Regenerative Medicine

This Centre combines our expertise in the soft tissue and bone research areas, including Oral Immunology and Microbiology; Oral Medicine and Periodontology groups.

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
  • 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

 

Centre for Oral Bioengineering

Queen Mary has a high profile in both bioengineering and materials-based research, with both the Institute of Bioengineering and the Materials Research Institute (MRI) providing a cross-faculty focus for pioneering research in these areas. Hard tissues, orthodontics, dental materials and the development of new dental technologies form a significant component of the Institute’s research profile.

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

 

Centre for Dental Public Health & Primary Care

The development of world-class research in population and public health is a strategic priority area for Queen Mary, of which Dental Public Health plays an important part.

Research Areas:

  • Clinical and population studies on socio-psychological, 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)

Contact

For Dentistry enquiries, please contact dentistrypgr@qmul.ac.uk.

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