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The Canadian Association for Dental Research (CADR) has awarded a 2012 IADR/Unilever Divisional Award to Farhan Khan, a MSc student in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology under the supervision of Dr. Song Lee and Dr. Scott Halperin.

As a divisional award winner, Mr. Khan will represent Canada in the Hatton Awards Competition which will be held as part of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) 90th General Session and Exhibition in Brazil in June 2012.

Trainees working in dental and oral health research in Canada applied for the CADR Student Research Awards by submitting a manuscript describing their studies. The competition was judged and winners selected by a panel of leading oral health researchers from across Canada. The two highest ranked competitors received the IADR/Unilever Divisional Award.

At the Hatton Awards Competition, Mr. Khan will present his research on Construction of a single chain antibody library against Fusobacterium nucleatum and use of the library to identify adhesins involved in coaggregation Fusobacterium nucleatum is a bacterium that lives in the mouth and is an important contributor to the formation of dental plaque. It seems to be particularly good at sticking or adhering to other species of bacteria, thus aiding the build up of bacteria on the teeth to form plaque. Exactly how F. nucleatum sticks to other bacteria is not well understood.

In his research, Mr. Khan was able to identify several antibodies that can bind to the surface of F. nucleatum and prevent it from adhering to other bacteria. A step forward in the process of learning exactly how these bacteria contribute to the formation of dental plaque.