Sonia Nath

Dr Sonia Nath

Postdoctoral Researcher

Adelaide Dental School

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Dr Nath is a postdoctoral researcher at the Adelaide Dental School at the University of Adelaide, working in the Indigenous Oral Health Unit. She completed her Bachelor of Dental Surgery in 2008 and my Master of Periodontology in 2013. In 2023, she completed her PhD in oral microbiome research at the Adelaide Dental School after receiving the Australian Government Research Training Programme Scholarship.
Dr Nath is a scientist with a track record in health technologies and is leading innovative research in the emerging field of oral microbiome and gene technology, a specialist area within oral microbiology. Dr Nath’s PhD research was located in this field, and she is continuing work on Oral Microbiome Transplantation (OMT) (transferring bacteria from a healthy donor to a recipient having oral disease) and using this technology in the future to improve oral health of the Indigenous population and socioeconomically disadvantaged population. Dr Nath is committed to understanding the lifestyle and environmental factors that could influence the oral microbiome. She is committed to improving oral health for the underprivileged population.
She secured the prestigious Paul Lee Bequest Research Funding in 2023 as a postdoctoral researcher. Dr Nath was recently awarded the International Association of Dental Research (IADR) Hatton Award in March 2024. Additionally, she won the IADR Colgate competition in 2023 in the Australia-New Zealand division. In 2023, she was awarded the best PhD student research award at the Adelaide Dental School research day. CI Nath has been invited to deliver a keynote presentation for Dental Hygienist Association Australia and, recently, in March 2023, at the International Association of Dental Research conference.

There are two research projects:

(1) Oral microbiome transplantation project: working towards developing a novel therapy, oral microbiome transplantation (OMT), in collaboration with Pennsylvania State University, with clinical application to prevent and treat dental caries and periodontal disease.

(2) “Provision of Culturally Safe Dental Care among Indigenous South Australians":  The project collected data from over 400 Indigenous South Australians and provided culturally safe dental treatment for all study participants. Additionally, it identifies and describes the oral microbiome associated with health and disease in the Indigenous population and its links to chronic health conditions.

  • Appointments
    Date Position Institution name
    2023 - ongoing Postdoctoral Researcher University of Adelaide
    2022 - 2022 Research Assistant University of Adelaide
    2021 - 2023 Academic Teaching University of Adelaide
    2020 - 2023 Research Assistant University of Adelaide
    2018 - ongoing Reader West Bengal University of Health Sciences
    2015 - 2018 Senior Resident Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences

  • Awards and Achievements
    Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
    2024 Research Award IADR Hatton Award winner, March 2024 International Association of Dental Research United States 1600 USD
    2023 Research Award Colgate Competition winner Senior Category International Association of Dental Research Australia 1000 USD
    2023 Research Award Best PhD Student Presentation Adelaide Dental School Australia 500 AUD
    2022 Research Award Visualise Your Thesis 3rd Prize. The University of Adelaide Australia 200 AUD
    2020 Scholarship Research Training Program Scholarship 2020 University of Adelaide Australia -
    2017 Achievement Best Scientific Presentation 42nd ISP National Conference, Kolkata, 2017 India -
    2010 Achievement Best Scientific Presentation 35th ISP National Conference, Bangaluru¸ 2013 India -

  • Language Competencies
    Language Competency
    English Can read, write, speak and understand spoken
    Hindi Can read, write, speak and understand spoken

  • Education
    Date Institution name Country Title
    2020 - 2023 University of Adelaide Australia PhD Dentistry
    2010 - 2013 Ayush & Health Sciences University Chhattisgarh India Masters of Dental Surgery (Periodontology)
    2003 - 2007 Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University India Bachelor of Dental Surgery

  • Postgraduate Training
    Date Title Institution Country
    2010 - 2013 Masters of Dental Surgery Ayush & Health Sciences University Chhattisgarh India

  • Research Interests
    Indigenous and Disadvantaged Health Innovative Therapeutics Oral Health Clinical Trials Dental Therapeutics Epidemiology Translational Health Outcomes Microbiology Bioinformatics and computational biology

  • Journals
    Year Citation
    2024 Nath, S., Thomson, W. M., Baker, S. R., & Jamieson, L. M. (2024). A bibliometric analysis of Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology: Fifty years of publications. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 52(2), 171-180.
    DOI Scopus2
    2024 Weyrich, L. S., Nath, S., & Jamieson, L. (2024). Commercializing equitable, accessible oral microbiome transplantation therapy. Community Dental Health, 41(1), 83-88.
    DOI
    2024 Nath, S., Weyrich, L., Zilm, P., Kapellas, K., & Jamieson, L. M. (2024). Oral microbiome research from a public health perspective and implications for oral health. Community Dental Health, 41(1), 75-82.
    DOI
    2023 Jamieson, L., Hedges, J., Dodd, Z., Larkins, P., Zbierski, C., Nath, S., . . . Ju, X. (2023). Provision of Dental Care to Indigenous South Australians and Impacts on Improved General Health: Study Protocol. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(4), 2955.
    DOI Scopus1
    2023 Nath, S., Sethi, S., Bastos, J. L., Constante, H. M., Mejia, G., Haag, D., . . . Jamieson, L. (2023). The Global Prevalence and Severity of Dental Caries among Racially Minoritized Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Caries Research, 57(4), 485-508.
    DOI Scopus4 Europe PMC2
    2023 Haag, D. G., Schuch, H. S., Nath, S., Baker, S. R., Celeste, R. K., Thomson, W. M., & Jamieson, L. M. (2023). Gender inequities in dental research publications: Findings from 20 years. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 51(5), 1045-1055.
    DOI Scopus6 WoS2 Europe PMC1
    2022 Bastos, J. L., Constante, H. M., Schuch, H. S., Haag, D. G., Nath, S., Celeste, R. K., . . . Jamieson, L. M. (2022). Where are race-based oral health inequities bound? Protocol for a systematic review on interventions to tackle racial injustice in dental outcomes.. Systematic reviews, 11(1), 41.
    DOI Scopus4 WoS3 Europe PMC1
    2022 Nath, S., Poirier, B., Ju, X., Kapellas, K., Haag, D., & Jamieson, L. (2022). Prevalence of periodontal disease among Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations: protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.. Syst Rev, 11(1), 43.
    DOI
    2022 Nath, S., Kapellas, K., & Jamieson, L. (2022). Reply to: Letter to the Editor on the Paper: "Dental Health Inequalities among Indigenous Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis".. Caries Res, 56(2), 147-148.
    DOI
    2022 Bastos, J. L., Constante, H. M., Schuch, H. S., Haag, D. G., Nath, S., Celeste, R. K., . . . Jamieson, L. M. (2022). Correction: Where are race-based oral health inequities bound? Protocol for a systematic review on interventions to tackle racial injustice in dental outcomes (Systematic Reviews, (2022), 11, 1, (41), 10.1186/s13643-022-01911-w). Systematic Reviews, 11(1), 1 page.
    DOI
    2022 Nath, S., Pulikkotil, S. J., Weyrich, L., Zilm, P., Kapellas, K., & Jamieson, L. (2022). Effect of Periodontal Interventions on Characteristics of the Periodontal Microbial Profile: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Microorganisms, 10(8), 1-40.
    DOI Scopus6 WoS3 Europe PMC3
    2022 Nath, S., Poirier, B., Ju, X., Kapellas, K., Haag, D., & Jamieson, L. (2022). Periodontal disease inequities among Indigenous populations: A systematic review and meta-analysis.. Journal of periodontal research, 57(1), 1-19.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS3 Europe PMC2
    2022 Nath, S., Sethi, S., Bastos, J. L., Constante, H. M., Kapellas, K., Haag, D., & Jamieson, L. M. (2022). A Global Perspective of Racial–Ethnic Inequities in Dental Caries: Protocol of Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1390.
    DOI Scopus3 WoS2 Europe PMC1
    2021 Nath, S., Zilm, P., Jamieson, L., Kapellas, K., Goswami, N., Ketagoda, K., & Weyrich, L. S. (2021). Development and characterization of an oral microbiome transplant among Australians for the treatment of dental caries and periodontal disease: A study protocol. PLoS One, 16(11), e0260433-1-e0260433-19.
    DOI Scopus22 WoS11 Europe PMC13
    2021 Nath, S., Poirier, B., Ju, X., Kapellas, K., Haag, D., & Jamieson, L. (2021). Prevalence of Periodontal Disease Among Indigenous and Non-indigenous Populations: Protocol for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
    DOI
    2021 Nath, S., Ju, X., Haag, D. G., Kapellas, K., Santiago, P. H. R., & Jamieson, L. (2021). The prevalence of dental caries among Indigenous populations compared to non-Indigenous populations: a quantitative systematic review protocol.. JBI evidence synthesis, Publish Ahead of Print(11), 3096-3101.
    DOI Scopus4 WoS5 Europe PMC3
    2021 Nath, S., Handsley-Davis, M., Weyrich, L. S., & Jamieson, L. M. (2021). Diversity and bias in oral microbiome research: A commentary. EClinicalMedicine, 36, 2 pages.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS4 Europe PMC6
    2021 Nath, S., Poirier, B. F., Ju, X., Kapellas, K., Haag, D. G., Ribeiro Santiago, P. H., & Jamieson, L. M. (2021). Dental Health Inequalities among Indigenous Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.. Caries research, 55(4), 268-287.
    DOI Scopus21 WoS13 Europe PMC7
    2020 Pulikkotil, S. J., Nath, S., & Ramachandran, V. (2020). Determinants of periodontitis among a rural indian population: A case control study. Community Dental Health, 37(1), 26-31.
    DOI Scopus4 WoS3 Europe PMC2
    2020 Pulikkotil, S. J., Nath, S., Muthukumaraswamy., Dharamarajan, L., Jing, K. T., & Vaithilingam, R. D. (2020). Alcohol consumption is associated with periodontitis. A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Community Dental Health, 37(1), 12-21.
    DOI Scopus20 WoS11 Europe PMC9
    2020 Nath, S., Prakash, J., Prajapati, V. K., & Pulikkotil, S. J. (2020). Endotoxemia among Postpartum Mothers with Periodontitis Delivering Low Birth Weight Babies: A Case Control Study in Rural Indian Population. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC RESEARCH, 14(1), ZC10-ZC13.
    DOI
    2020 Nath, S., Prakash, J., Prajapati, V., Sharma, N., & Pulikkotil, S. (2020). Effect of bidi cigarette smoking on interleukin-1β and 8 levels in chronic periodontitis patient. Indian Journal of Dental Research, 31(3), 433-438.
    DOI
    2020 Nath, S., Pulikkotil, S., Dharmarajan, L., Arunachalam, M., & Jing, K. (2020). Effect of locally delivered doxycycline as an adjunct to scaling and root planing in the treatment of periodontitis in smokers: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis. Dental Research Journal, 17(4), 235-243.
    DOI Scopus4 Europe PMC2
    2019 Nath, S., & Pulikkotil, S. (2019). Gingival myiasis affecting an Alzheimer patient. Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan, 29(3), 293.
    DOI Scopus1 WoS1
    2019 Prajapati, V., Pulikkotil, S., & Nath, S. (2019). Myocysticercosis of the masseter muscle. Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan, 29(2), 196.
    DOI
    2018 Nath, S., Prakash, J., Singh, N. N., & Prajapati, V. K. (2018). Tuberous Sclerosis Complex with Gingival Enlargement in an Adolescent. Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons--Pakistan : JCPSP, 28(3), S16-S18.
    DOI Scopus3 WoS2 Europe PMC1
    2018 Nath, S., Prakash, J., Singh, N., & Prajapati, V. (2018). Mandibular osteomyelitis as a complication of Ramsay Hunt syndrome in an elderly patient. Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan, 28(3), 254.
    DOI
    2017 Prakash, J., Bhatnagar, V., Nath, S., Pulikkotil, S., & Prajapati, V. K. (2017). Effect of punica granatum extract gel on gingival crevicular fluid levels of interleukin-1β, interleukin-8 and CCL28 levels: Randomised controlled clinical trial. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, 11(11), ZC12-ZC17.
    DOI Scopus5 WoS4
    2016 Venkateshbabu, N., Anand, S., Abarajithan, M., Sheriff, S. O., Jacob, P. S., & Sonia, N. (2016). Natural Therapeutic Options in Endodontics - A Review. OPEN DENTISTRY JOURNAL, 10(1), 214-226.
    DOI WoS14
    2016 Arunachalam, M., Pulikkotil, S. J., & Sonia, N. (2016). Platelet Rich Fibrin in Periodontal Regeneration. OPEN DENTISTRY JOURNAL, 10(1), 174-181.
    DOI WoS12
    2015 Pandey, V., Salam, S. A., Moda, A., Agarwal, P., Nath, S., & Pulikkotil, S. J. (2015). Effect of the use of snuff on the levels of interleukin-1 β and interleukin-8 in the gingival crevicular fluid of periodontitis patients. Dental Research Journal, 12(5), 461-468.
    DOI Scopus2 Europe PMC1
    2015 Pulikkotil, S. J., & Nath, S. (2015). Effects of curcumin on crevicular levels of IL-1β and CCL28 in experimental gingivitis. Australian Dental Journal, 60(3), 317-327.
    DOI Scopus34 WoS25 Europe PMC18
    2014 Pulikkotil, S. J., & Nath, S. (2014). Letters to the editor. Journal of Periodontology, 85(11), 1478-1479.
    DOI
    2014 Jacob, P. S., Nath, S., & Patel, R. P. (2014). Evaluation of interleukin-1β and 8 in gutka chewers with periodontitis among a rural Indian population. Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science, 44(3), 126-133.
    DOI Scopus12 WoS10 Europe PMC9
    2014 Pulikkotil, S. J., & Nath, S. (2014). Effect on interleukin-1β and interleukin-8 levels following use of fibrin sealant for periodontal surgery. Australian Dental Journal, 59(2), 156-164.
    DOI Scopus11 WoS8 Europe PMC8
    2014 Jacob, P. S., & Nath, S. (2014). Periodontitis among poor rural Indian mothers increases the risk of low birth weight babies: A hospital-based case control study. Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science, 44(2), 85-93.
    DOI Scopus18 WoS14 Europe PMC13
    2013 Pulikkotil, S. J., & Nath, S. (2013). Commentary on "relationship between maternal periodontal disease and apgar score of newborns". Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science, 43(3), 141-142.
    DOI
    2013 Pulikkotil, S. J., & Nath, S. (2013). Fibrin sealant as an alternative for sutures in periodontal surgery. Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan, 23(2), 164-165.
    Scopus10 WoS9 Europe PMC9
    2013 Jacob, P. S., & Nath, S. (2013). Efficacy of a Topical Anaesthetic on Pain during Scaling and Root Planing: A Double Blind Split Mouth Pilot Study in Patients with Periodontitis. SAINS MALAYSIANA, 42(5), 685-692.
    WoS2
    2012 Shaju Jacob, P., & Nath, S. (2012). Letters to the editor. Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences, 19(4), 89-90.
    2012 Jacob, S., Nath, S., & Zade, R. (2012). Effect of periodontal therapy on circulating levels of endotoxin in women with periodontitis: A pilot clinical trial. Indian Journal of Dental Research, 23(6), 714-718.
    DOI Scopus1

  • Datasets
    Year Citation
    - Nath, S. (n.d.). Risk of Bias Assessment Table for "The global prevalence and severity of dental caries among racially minoritized children: A systematic review and meta-analysis.".
    DOI

  • Media
    Year Citation
    - Nath, S. (n.d.). Oral microbiome recycling.
    DOI

1. Paul Lee Bequest research funding 2023- “Assessing occlusion and impacts of malocclusion on the quality of life of Indigenous South Australians.” 

2. Adelaide Dental School Research RIBG funding 2022 

  • Other Supervision Activities
    Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name
    2024 - ongoing Principal Supervisor Finding links betwen periodontal disease and Type II diabetes among Indigneous South Australian Population Adelaide Dental School - Honours Part Time Aditi Sengupta

  • Mentoring
    Date Topic Location Name
    2022 - 2022 Bachelor of Oral Health Adelaide Dental School Laisa
    2022 - 2022 Health Assessments Wirltu Yarlu Academic Mentoring Program Ebony
  • Position: Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Email: sonia.nath@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Adelaide Health and Medical Sciences, floor 9
  • Org Unit: Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health
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