Sonia Nath

Dr Sonia Nath

Postdoctoral Researcher

Adelaide Dental School

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD (as Co-Supervisor) - email supervisor to discuss availability.


Dr Nath is a postdoctoral researcher at the Adelaide Dental School at the University of Adelaide, working in the Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health and Indigenous Oral Health Unit. She completed her Bachelor of Dental Surgery and her Master of Dental Surgery (Periodontology). 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 microbial gene technology, a specialist area within oral microbiology. Dr Nath’s PhD research was located in this field. 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 for treating and preventing dental caries and periodontal disease, and using bioinformatics to create a “super donor assessment tool” for selection of healthy donors. She plans to start clinical trials using OMT 2025 and use this technology to improve the oral health of the Indigenous and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations.
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. Dr Nath has 10 years of experience in fieldwork and data collection. She has 5 years of experience engaging with Indigenous communities through culturally sensitive research practices. She led a project providing culturally safe dental care to over 400 Indigenous participants, ensuring that all clinical examinations and data collection were conducted respectfully in regional and remote South Australia.
Dr Nath has published more than peer-reviewed articles with more than 700 citations, an h-index of 15, and an i10-index of 22 (as of 2025, Google Scholar). As an early career researcher, she has received over $70 K in funding as Principal Investigator to continue her research. She serves as an editorial board member for BMC Oral Health.
She has delivered keynote presentations at prestigious forums such as the Dental Hygienist Association of Australia Symposium (2023) and the International Association of Dental Research Conference (2024). Additionally, Dr Nath won the most prestigious research award, the Hatton Award (2024) by the International Association of Dental Research (IADR), placing her among the best dental researchers for 2024. She was also awarded the IADR ANZ Division Colgate Competition Award (2023).

Currently working on 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. 

 

Remote video URL

 

 

(2) Provision of Culturally Safe Dental Care among Indigenous South Australians:  The project collected data from over 405 Indigenous South Australian adults and children 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 such as Type 2 diabetes, heart conditions, and kidney disease. 

  • 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 - 2020 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
    2025 Research Award FHMS Research Travel Award Scheme 2025 The University of Adelaide Australia -
    2024 Research Award Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences Travel Award The University of Adelaide Australia $2000
    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
    2023 Research Award Healthy Development Travel Award 2023 Healthy Development Adelaide Australia $850
    2023 Research Award Eustace Travel Award 2023 The University of Adelaide Australia $1530
    2022 Research Award Visualise Your Thesis 3rd Prize. The University of Adelaide Australia 200 AUD
    2022 Research Award Eustace Travel Award 2022 The University of Adelaide Australia $1200
    2022 Research Award Dentistry Journal Travel Award 2022 Dentistry Journal Switzerland -
    2022 Research Award Adelaide Graduate Research School Travel Award 2022 The University of Adelaide Australia $2500
    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

1. Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences Early Grant Development Scheme 2025. 

2. Paul Lee Bequest research funding 2024- '“Smiles and Stories”, Dental Malocclusion's Impact on Quality of Life among Indigenous South Australians: A Mixed Method Study.'

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

4. Adelaide Dental School Research RIBG funding 2022 

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2025 Co-Supervisor A network psychometric validation of questionnaires measuring temporomandibular joint disorder, dental satisfaction and loneliness scale among an Australian adult population Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Abanish Singh
  • Other Supervision Activities

    Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name
    2025 - ongoing Co-Supervisor A network psychometric validation of questionnaires measuring temporomandibular joint disorder, dental satisfaction and loneliness scale among an Australian adult population The University of Adelaide Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Abanish Singh
    2025 - ongoing Principal Supervisor Oral Microbiome Changes After Periodontal Treatment Among Indigenous South Australians. Adelaide Dental School, The University of Adelaide - Honours Part Time Sriya Talapaneni
    2025 - ongoing Principal Supervisor The Link Between the Oral Microbiome and Cardiovascular Disease in Indigenous South Australians Adelaide Dental School, The University of Adelaide - Honours Part Time Raymond Shi
    2025 - ongoing Co-Supervisor Assessing the dental treatment needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in South Australia. Adelaide Dental School, The University of Adelaide - Honours Part Time Hyun Seung Lee
    2025 - ongoing Principal Supervisor Mobile apps used for preventive oral health education for children Adelaide Dental School, The University of Adelaide - Honours Part Time Lora Ding
    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
    2024 - 2025 Principal Supervisor To assess and compare the effectiveness of the new model of care between Aboriginal people with different social demographics School of Public Health, The University of Adelaide - Master Part Time Alexander Thien-An Pham
  • Mentoring

    Date Topic Location Name
    2024 - ongoing Microbial associated with dental caries among Indigenous South Australians Adelaide Dental School, The University of Adelaide Rifatool Masud Akanda
    2024 - ongoing Finding links between periodontal disease and microbiome. Adelaide Dental School, The University of Adelaide Vahithavarshini Myvizhi Suresh Kumar
    2024 - ongoing Effects of smoking and alcohol on the oral microbiome Adelaide Dental School, The University of Adelaide Fabian Pratama Mulia
    2022 - 2022 Bachelor of Oral Health Adelaide Dental School Laisa
    2022 - 2022 Health Assessments Wirltu Yarlu Academic Mentoring Program Ebony
  • Memberships

    Date Role Membership Country
    2022 - ongoing Member International Association of Dental Research United States
    2021 - ongoing Member Australian Dental Association Australia
    2021 - ongoing Member Healthy Develepement Adelaide Australia
    2013 - ongoing Member Indian Society of Periodontology India
  • 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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