Dr. Tami Yap: recipient of Early Career Researcher Grants

Congratulations to Tami Yap who received the Early Career Researcher Grant of $39968.13 for her proposal “Clinical-molecular risk concept integration in oral potentially malignant disorders”. Tami’s research focuses on  improving care for patients with precancerous skin changes.


Oral cancer is a growing health problem in both Australia and globally as the population ages. Late stage oral cancer is associated with significant rates of morbidity and mortality. However, in the early stages prognosis has a five-year survival rate of over 80%. Oral cancers are often preceded by painless abnormalities of the oral mucosae that appear as white or red areas assessed as oral precancerous skin changes.  These affect 4.5% of the global population.  The development of an oral cancer occurs in up to 5% of individuals with precancerous skin changes.

Using state of the art technology, the project will investigate molecular changes in collected skin samples which are associated with the development of oral cancer in patients with precancerous skin changes, building on Tami’s previous work:


Discoveries will be linked with in-clinic assessment using real-time optical aids  https://www.optiscan.com/products/five2/ and how these change in a patient over time.