Dr Pauline J Ford

BDSc(Hons)(Qld), BDentSt (Qld), PhD, GCHEd

Position: Senior Lecturer
Location: Turbot St 865/223; Level 6 - UQCCR - Herston 
Telephone: 336 58085
Email: p.ford@uq.edu.au  

See Research, Projects, Publications and other information.

Administrative Roles
School Research Higher Degree & Honours Coordinator
Chair, Progress Oversight for Learning and Education
BDSc 3rd year Coordinator
Member, Faculty Inter-Professional Education Committee
Member, Faculty Research Higher Degree Co-ordinators Committee

Teaching interests
Personal and Professional Development - Discipline Coordinator
Personal and Professional Development I & II - BDSc Course Coordinator

Research Interests
Dr Ford is a member of the Oral Cancer Research Program. The program leverages a range of novel technologies, including optical fluorescence imaging to be able to diagnose oral cancer at its earliest stages, thus allowing early forms of treatment to be applied with maximal effect. The program is also investigating the role that cancer stem cells play in the propagation and recurrence of cancerous and pre-cancerous lesions. The underlying premise of this program looks at creating a molecular signature for pre-cancerous conditions that can be used as a diagnostic test to either replace or supplement standard histopathological interpretation of oral epithelial dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma.
 
To complement the program's work on the biological mechanisms of oral cancer, we are undertaking projects to examine oral pre-cancerous conditions at the population level. Clinical and epidemiological studies of defined at-risk populations are underway which will determine the burden of oral mucosal disease as well as the relative importance of a range of risk factors for these groups. This information is fundamental to planning for oral health services and public health interventions which are appropriate and cost effective.
Previous to 2010, Dr Ford’s research focused on the contribution of oral infection and inflammation to cardiovascular disease (CVD) in human patients and using an animal model. 
 
Dr Ford also maintains research activities in the areas of information literacy, academic integrity, undergraduate research, interprofessional learning and indigenous health as part of the curriculum.

 
Current research projects
  • Treatment experience and support needs of head and neck cancer patients and their caregivers.
  • Epithelial dysplasia and future oral malignancy – a Queensland based retrospective study.
  • Barriers to early detection of oral cancer: perceptions and experience of patients and health care providers.
  • Oral screening to detect early disease: Improving health outcomes for Indigenous Australians.
  • Expanding the role of the Oral Health Therapist in health care.
  • Systemic inflammatory response in gingivitis.
  • Oral fluid biomarkers in periodontal disease.
  • Porphyromonas gingivalis GroEL and atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice.
  • Characterisation of the antibody response to host and Porphyromonas gingivalis heat shock proteins in cardiovascular and at risk patients.
  • Relationship between serum antibodies and clinical parameters of periodontal disease: A 5 year longitudinal study.

Selected recent publications 
Garton, B. J. and Ford, P. J. (2012) Root caries and diabetes: Risk assessing to improve oral and systemic health outcomes. Australian Dental Journal, 57 2: 114-122.
Ford, P. J. and Hughes, C. (2012) Academic integrity and plagiarism: perceptions and experience of staff and students in a school of dentistry: A situational analysis of staff and student perspectives. European Journal of Dental Education, 16 1: E180-E186.
Ford, P. J. and Hibberd, K. (2012) Creating effective and engaging information literacy programmes for the dental curriculum. European Journal of Dental Education, 16 1: E41-E46.
Farah, C. S., Ford, P. J., Allen, K., Vu, A. and McCullough, M. J. (2012). Oral cancer and potentially cancerous lesions - Early detection and diagnosis. In Kalu U. E. Ogbureke (Ed.), Oral cancer (pp. 79-106) Rijeka, Croatia: InTech.
Rose-Hill, S., Ford, P. J., Leishman, S. J., Do, H. L., Palmer, J. E., Heng, N. C. K., West, M. J., Seymour, G. J. and Cullinan, M. P. (2011) Improved periodontal health and cardiovascular risk. Australian Dental Journal, 56 4: 352-357.
Creating effective and engaging information literacy programs for the dental curriculum. Ford PJ, Hibberd K. European Journal of Dental Education accepted November 2, 2010.
Leishman SJ, Do HL, Ford PJ. Cardiovascular Disease and the Role of Oral Bacteria. Journal of Oral Microbiology 2010:2;5781 – DOI:10.3402/jom.v2i0.5781.
PJ Ford, SL Raphael, MP Cullinan, AJ Jenkins, MJ West, GJ Seymour. Why should a doctor be interested in oral disease? Expert Reviewof Cardiovascular Therapy 2010:8(10);1483-93.
S. Bohnstedt, M.P. Cullinan, P.J. Ford, J.E. Palmer, S.J. Leishman, B. Westerman, R.I. Marshall, M.J. West, G.J. Seymour. High Antibody Levels to P. gingivalis in Cardiovascular Disease. JDR 2010:89(9); 938-42.
Ford PJ, Gamonal J, Seymour GJ. Immunological differences and similarities between chronic and aggressive periodontitis. Periodontology 2000 2010:53; 111-23.
Ford PJ. Immunological techniques: ELISA, flow cytometry, and immunohistochemistry. Methods in Molecular Biology 2010;666:327-43.

 
Other activities and service
Member, IADR (Education Research Group, Behavioural, Epidemiologic and Health Services Research Group).
Councillor, Australian Dental Association, Qld Branch.
Research Advisor, Oral Health Clinical Education and Training Unit, ClinEdQ, Qld Health. 

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