Dara Shearer
Research Fellow
Department of Oral Sciences
University of Otago
New Zealand
Biography
Dr Dara Shearer is the Research Fellow in Department of Oral Rehabilitation at University of Otago, New Zealand. Her research interest lies in: 1) The epidemiology of intergenerational associations in periodontal health and longitudinal observational research investigating the role of family history in periodontal health using age-26, age-32, and age-38 periodontal data from the Dunedin Study, and parental data from the Dunedin Family History Study. This research aims to clarify longitudinal associations between parental and cohort periodontal health. 2) Longitudinal associations between periodontal disease and dysglycaemia. This comprises the analysis of Dunedin Study periodontal and glycated haemoglobin assays collected from Study members during the age-26, age-32, and age-38 assessments. The research makes use of both group-based trajectory modelling and linear mixed effects models to elucidate the natural history of, and associations between, periodontal disease and glycaemia as the cohort moves through their third and fourth decades towards middle age. 3) The investigation of associations between periodontal disease and (a) endothelial dysfunction and (b) abnormalities in the retinal microvasculature. These are both early markers of cardiometabolic disease.
Research Interest
Analysis of intergenerational, periodontal, glycaemic, and cardiovascular data from the Dunedin Study
