Melbourne Dental School

Associate Professor Stuart Dashper

CONTACT

E-mail: stuartgd@unimelb.edu.au

Telephone: +61 3 9341 1551

QUALIFICATIONS AND POSITION(S)

SHORT HISTORY

In the late sixties Geoff and Vera fled the gloomy midlands of England for the sunny shores of Australia, bringing their young son Stuart with them. Stuart settled in well and developed a fascination for all things microbial. In the late eighties, after a brief exposure to the study of bacteria in sewage, he rapidly developed an interest in Oral Microbiology. Upon completing a PhD at the School of Dental Science on the metabolism of oral streptococci in the early 90s, he accepted a postdoctoral position at the School where he has remained to this day. During his employment at the School of Dental Science the study of oral bacteria has increased exponentially. With the recent establishment of the Centre for Oral Health Science, The University of Melbourne now has a world class research centre studying the causes of oral disease. Stuart continues to research this fascinating field and to teach undergraduate and postgraduate students.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

The oral cavity is colonized by over 700 species of bacteria, most of which are found only in the mouth. These species exist largely as polymicrobial biofilms attached to the surface of the tooth and these biofilms play important roles in both health and disease. Bacterial biofilms are complex and diverse microbial communities with a complex ecology. Oral bacteria interact with each other and the host and these interactions help to regulate bacterial pathogenesis.

These interests encompass:-

CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

All of these projects are available and suitable for both Postgraduate and BSc(Hons) students and scholarships are available for these projects.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

  1. Dashper SG, Cross K, Slakeski N, Lissel P, Aulakh P, Moore C and Reynolds EC. Hemoglobin Hydrolysis and Heme Acquisition by Porphyromonas gingivalis. Oral Microbiology and Immunology 19:50-56 (2004). IF = 2.09
  2. O’Brien-Simpson NM, Veith PD, Dashper, SG and Reynolds EC. Antigenic Proteins of bacteria associated with periodontitis. Periodontology 2000. 35:1-34 (2004). Invited Review. IF = 3.581 (currently most highly ranked dental science journal).
  3. Dashper SG, Butler C, Lissel P, Paolini, RA, Hoffman B, Veith PD, O’Brien-Simpson NM, Snelgrove S, Tsiros JT and Reynolds EC. A novel Porphyromonas gingivalis FeoB Plays a Role in Manganese Accumulation. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 280:28095–28102 (2005). IF = 5.81
  4. Dashper SG, O’Brien-Simpson NM, Cross K, Paolini, RA, Hoffman B, Catmull D, Malkoski M, and Reynolds EC. Divalent Metal Cations Increase the Activity of the Antibacterial Peptide Kappacin. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 49:2322-2328 (2005). IF = 4.390
  5. Dashper SG and Reynolds EC. Combating dental decay. Microbiology Australia. 26:107-109 (2005). Invited review.
  6. Cochrane NJ, Saranathan S, Morgan M and Dashper SG. Fluoride content of still bottled water in Australia. Australian Dental Journal. 51:242-244 (2006).
  7. Seers C, Slakeski N, Veith P, Nikoloff T, Chen Y-Y Dashper SG and Reynolds EC. The RgpB C-terminal domain has a role in attachment of RgpB to the outer membrane and belongs to a novel C-terminal domain family found in Porphyromonas gingivalis.  Journal of Bacteriology 188:6376-6386 (2006). IF = 4.013
  8. Dashper SG, Liu SW & Reynolds EC. Antibacterial peptides and their potential as oral therapeutic agents. International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics 13:505-516 (2007). Invited review.
  9. Dashper S, Byrne S, Orth R and Reynolds EC. Long in the Tooth: Oral Bacterial Communities and Chronic Periodontitis. Microbiology Australia 28:113-115 (2007). Invited review.
  10. Dashper SG, Veith PD, Ang C, Zilm PS, Reynolds EC. Applied genomics of some oral bacteria. Chapter 2 p29-64. In: Molecular Oral Microbiology. Ed. Rogers AH, Caister Academic Press, Norfolk UK (2008).
  11. Chivatxaranukul P, Dashper SG, Messer H. Dentinal tubule invasion and binding by Enterococcus faecalis. International Endodontic Journal 41:873-882 (2008). IF = 2.15
  12. Ang CS, Veith PD, Dashper SG and Reynolds EC. Application of 16O/18O with reverse proteolytic labelling to determine the effect of biofilm culture on the cell envelope proteome of Porphyromonas gingivalis W50. Proteomics 8:1645-1660 (2008). IF = 5.77 Front Cover.
  13. Lo AWH, Seers CA, Boyce JD, Dashper SG, Slakeski N, Lissel PJ and Reynolds EC. Comparative transcriptomic analysis of Porphyromonas gingivalis biofilm and planktonic cells. BMC Microbiology. 9:18 (2009).  IF = 2.98
  14. Dashper SG, Ang CS, Veith PD, Mitchell HL, Lo AWH, Seers CA, Walsh KA, Slakeski N, Chen D, Lissel JP, Butler CA, O’Brien-Simpson NM, Barr IG, and Reynolds EC. Response of Porphyromonas gingivalis to heme limitation in continuous culture. Journal of Bacteriology 191:1044–1055 (2009). IF = 4.013
  15. Veith PD, Dashper SG, O’Brien-Simpson NM, Paolini RA, Orth R, Walsh K and Reynolds EC. Major proteins and antigens of Treponema denticola.  Accepted for publication in BBA Proteins and Proteomics Feb. 2009. IF = 3.078
  16. Byrne S, Dashper SG, Darby I, Adams G, Hoffman B and Reynolds EC. Progression of chronic periodontitis can be predicted by the proportions of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Treponema denticola in subgingival plaque samples. Accepted for publication in Oral Microbiology and Immunology. May 2009. IF = 2.09
  17. Veith PD, O’Brien-Simpson NM, Tan Y, Djatmiko DC, Dashper SG, Reynolds EC. Outer Membrane Proteome and Antigens of Tannerella forsythia. Accepted for publication in Journal of Proteome Research May 2009. IF = 5.675

SUBMITTED

  1. Dashper SG, Ang CS, Liu SW, Paolini RA and Reynolds EC. The effect of the fumarate reductase inhibitor, Oxantel, on biofilm formation by Porphyromonas gingivalis. (Submitted to Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy July 2009).
  2. Mitchell H, Dashper SG, Catmull D, Paolini R and Reynolds EC. Treponema denticola biofilm-induced expression of a bacteriophage, toxin-antitoxin systems and transposases. (Submitted to Microbiology August 2009).
  3. Toh E, Huq LN, Dashper SG and Reynolds EC. Cysteine Protease Inhibitors: From evolutionary relationships to modern chemotherapeutic design. (Submitted to International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics August 2009).

CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTS

Australian Federal Government:-

National Health and Medical Research Council:-

Awards:-

Industry Funded:-

MEMBERSHIPS

TEACHING INTERESTS

top of page