Dr Axel Spahr

Biography

Axel Spahr is Head of Periodontics at the Sydney Dental Hospital and Head of the Discipline Periodontics at the University of Sydney. A/Prof. Spahr is the former Head of Periodontics at the University of Ulm in Germany and has worked at various international universities and research facilities. He has a further training in microbiology and molecular biology and extensive experience in basic science research, animal research and clinical research. A/Prof. Spahr's research interest includes periodontal regeneration, bone regeneration, periodontitis and systemic diseases as well as antimicrobial therapy.He has lead large externally funded research projects and is collaborating with leading international research groups and companies in the field of periodontology, implantology and bone regeneration. He is author of numerous publications in international peer-reviewed dental and medical journals and has presented his work on professional conferences worldwide.

Research Interest

Disciplines:Orthodontics, Endodontics, Biomaterials, Oral Pathology and Cellular/Molecular Biology, Periodontics The objective of the research group Oral Biomedicine and Regenerative Dentistry of the Dental Faculty, University of Sydney is to develop new biology-based approaches for the treatment of oral diseases, the promotion of improved oral health and ageing conditions, as well as the prevention of oral disorders. In this way, (i) innovative biology-based therapeutics shall be produced for the treatment of different oral diseases (ii) advanced biomaterials shall be developed to re-engineer and regenerate damaged/lost oral hard and soft tissues. (iii) investigations using frontier technologies shall be undertaken for a better understanding of the fundamental biological principles underlying the chronic oral diseases and the interactions between the oral and systemic diseases In more detail, the core research group Oral Biomedicine and Regenerative Dentistry is focused on two major research areas within the field of Oral Biomedicine: (i) Bio-Regeneration and Bio-Engineering of Oral Tissues and (ii) Chronic Oral Diseases / Ageing Well. The reason for this focused strategy is to concentrate energy, efforts, resources and capacity of all dental/oral disciplines. It is also a declared goal of the research group Oral Biomedicine and Regenerative Dentistry to interact and cooperate with other disciplines outside the oral field like Medicine, Biosciences, Bio-Engineering and Bio-Materials. In this way, by combined efforts and by transfer and usage of cutting-edge technologies and materials, innovative biology-based solutions shall be sought for the current most prevalent oral/dental diseases and to meet the future challenges. A further goal of this research group is the development of biological strategies to improve the oral capacities and oral health of ageing people, taking into consideration the altered requirements of an ageing population.