Led by Francesco D’Aiuto, we aim to decrypt the fundamental mechanisms of multimorbidity linking oral diseases to systemic disorders, and deliver early phase interventional trials designed to meet multiple health outcomes. We aim to do this by:

Collaborating with the Multimorbidity and Inclusion Health theme to identify novel biomarkers of association between periodontitis and systemic health including changes in the oral microbiome, oxidative and mitochondrial dysfunction, and use genomics and proteomics platforms available in the UCLH-BRC (D’Aiuto, Smith).

Designing a large multicentre interventional primary dental care study with the aim of improving glycaemic control in individuals with diabetes through the treatment of periodontitis (D’Aiuto).

Collaborating with the Infection, Immunopathology and Immunotherapeutics theme to deliver proof-of-concept studies and early-phase interventional trials targeting health outcomes of both oral and systemic disorders including rheumatic, neurological, and gastrointestinal disease, as well as pregnancy (D’Aiuto, Smith).

Collaborating with the Computational Medicine theme to utilise electronic health records (e.g. GPRD, Cancer Registry, ONS, secondary care EHR, interlinked via the UCL platform CALIBER to (i) identify novel associations, risk factors and prognostic indicators of both oral and systemic disorders (Fedele, D’Aiuto, Watt, Tsakos), and (ii) analyse clinical, behavioural and psycho-social data to explore patterns and determinants of multimorbidity linking oral diseases and other non-communicable conditions (Watt, Tsakos, Heilmann).