King's College London

These awards mark an exciting step in advancing innovation and discovery across the field, reflecting the dedication and excellence of our academic community. 

Mads Bergholt & Richard Cook - Endoscopic tissue time machine

ERC Consolidator - £1,841,154.54

Project details:

A major breakthrough in cancer diagnostics is on the horizon, as Dr. Mads Bergholt from King’s College London (KCL) has been awarded a prestigious €2.2 million European Research Council Consolidator Grant to lead the EPIC project, in close collaboration with Professor Richard Cook (KCL) and the Oral Clinical Research Unit (OCRU). The initiative promises to revolutionize how clinicians detect and manage head and neck cancers, which remain notoriously difficult to diagnose at an early stage. Find out more here.

Abigail Tucker / Emily Lu - Understanding and enhancing regenerative capacity of the Junctional Epithelium

Medical Research Council - £1,039,374.92 (Full economic costs)

Project details:

In this application we focus on the junctional epithelium, a specialised epithelium established during tooth development, that sits between the oral epithelium and the tooth. The Junctional epithelium protects the tooth-supporting structures from the oral environment, forming a tight connection to the enamel and cementum of the tooth via an inner basement membrane rich in collagens and laminins. This unusual epithelium is able to rapidly renew itself controlled by a stem cell niche at its base. In this grant we use the mouse as a model to map the signals and cell populations that form and maintain the junctional epithelium, to characterise the mechanisms underlying loss of attachment, and to rescue the regression of the junctional epithelium in periodontal disease.

What is it hoping to achieve?

At the end of this grant the team will have a clear understanding of the junction epithelium, how it is impacted and influences disease, and how attachment and the stem cell niche can be maintained or reconstructed. This information will provide new avenues to tackle periodontitis, and also provide insights into how to improve the interaction between the oral epithelium and dental implants.

The proposal is a collaboration between a researcher with a background in tooth development and repair (Abbie), and a clinician specialising in the periodontal tissues (Emily), bringing together their expertise to answer an important question which impacts a large proportion of the population.

Julian Naglik:

2025-2028 Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

Mechanisms of Candida albicans commensalism and pathogenicity.

Applicants: Julian Naglik (PI), Jonathan Richardson (Co-I) and Paul Lavender (Co-I). Total grant: £1,334,174.

The human fungal pathogen Candida albicans kills ~1 million people every year, twice as many as malaria or influenza. During infection, C. albicans can alter its morphology from yeast cells to invasive ‘pathogenic’ hyphae. However, the transition from yeast to hyphae is a tightly regulated process, and subject to environmental and genetic influences. Critically, clinical isolates of C. albicans often display a “spectrum of pathogenicity”, ranging from overtly pathogenic (producing invasive hyphae, invading tissues, and causing damage), to overtly commensal (producing no invasive hyphae and causing no tissue damage). These observations suggest high level regulation influences C. albicans hypha formation and pathogenicity. This project will use a panel of highly selective C. albicans strains, controlled for all known virulence factors, to provide the first comprehensive understanding of how and why C. albicans acts as a pathogen or commensal in vivo.

2026-2030 Medical Research Council (MRC). Project grant

MKP1 modulating host defence: pathogen-specific innate immune regulation.

Applicant: Julian Naglik (PI). Total grant: £945,384.53. 

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphatase 1 (MKP1) plays a crucial role in the regulation of immune responses and the body’s defence mechanisms against infections. MKP1 is involved in modulating the activity of MAPKs, which are vital for transducing signals from microbial pathogens. While the functional role of MKP1 has been studied in bacterial infections, no studies have investigated its role in fungal infections. MKP1 is strongly activated in epithelial cells and neutrophils in response to the fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Importantly, MKP1 deletion results in protection against mucosal and systemic C. albicans infection. These findings are in stark contrast to bacterial studies, where the MKP1 deletion dramatically increases morbidity and mortality. Therefore, this project aims to determine why MKP1 deletion is protective in fungal disease but detrimental in bacterial disease, which will reveal new mechanisms by which fungal disease outcome could be improved through targeted immunostimulatory therapy.

Vitamin D Signalling In Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis And Periodontitis- Emily Lu/ Luigi Nibali/ Frances Humby/Maggie Flak/Jing Kang

Eklund Foundation, a charitable organisation that supports international dental research by awarding grants for innovative experimental and clinical studies across all fields of dentistry. €60,798

Project details:

This project investigates the role of vitamin D receptor (VDR) signalling in the shared inflammatory mechanisms linking rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and periodontitis. Both conditions are chronic, immune-mediated diseases characterised by dysregulated host inflammation, progressive bone destruction, and significant morbidity. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased disease activity in RA and greater periodontal disease severity.

What is the project hoping to achieve?

This study aims to determine how altered VDR signalling contributes to the shared inflammatory and bone-destructive processes seen in patients with both rheumatoid arthritis and periodontitis. Although vitamin D deficiency is linked to heightened rheumatoid arthritis activity and more severe periodontal disease, the mechanistic involvement of VDR signalling in this association remains poorly understood. By characterising VDR signalling in this patient population, the study seeks to identify a biological pathway that could support earlier diagnosis and targeted management of individuals at risk. If a clear relationship is established, it would provide strong justification for routine vitamin D assessment as part of early detection, risk stratification, and ongoing monitoring in patients with RA and coexisting periodontitis.

This collaborative project, led by Emily Lu, brings together a multidisciplinary team with complementary expertise in Rheumatology (Frances Humby), Periodontology (Luigi Nibali), Immunology (Maggie Flak), and Quantitative Science (Jing Kang), ensuring strong translational value and clinical relevance.

Treatment Of Peri-implantitis Defects With Platelet Rich Fibrin: A Randomised Controlled Trial- Emily Lu/ Luigi Nibali

International Team for Implantology (ITI), a leading global organization in implant dentistry, providing international research funding to advance evidence-based implant and tissue-regeneration care. - €123,534.40

Project details:

This randomized controlled trial will evaluate the clinical effectiveness of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) for the regeneration of peri-implant defects. PRF is an autologous blood-derived biomaterial enriched with platelets, growth factors, cytokines, and matrix proteins that support tissue regeneration, wound healing, and modulation of inflammation. PRF can enhance surgical outcomes in peri-implantitis; however, robust clinical validation using standardized protocols and adequately powered study designs are lacking. Peri-implantitis is a highly prevalent condition with significant functional and biological consequences if left untreated, yet there is no reliable, predictable therapeutic strategy for managing the associated bony defects.

What is the project hoping to achieve?

This study will address an important clinical need by determining whether PRF can provide a more effective and biologically supported regenerative treatment option for patients with peri-implantitis.

This multi-national trial is a collaboration between FoDOCS, King’s College London and Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dubai. The project, led by Emily Lu and supported by Luigi Nibali will be delivered through the Oral Clinical Research Unit, where participants will receive treatment as part of the trial.

Yunpeng Li / Owen Addison – Supplement to Development and pre-market evaluation of AI-assisted dental disease detection with radiography

NIHR - £199,171 on top of £1,559,215

Project Details:
The project aims to achieve a regulatory upgrade to CE Class IIa marking for the Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) the team are developing for AI-assisted radiographic dental disease detection.