Congratulations to Our Innovation Booster Award Winners

Our school congratulates Tarek Abasseri, Raj Gaurav Singh, and Negar Yazdani for receiving the Innovation Booster Award!

The Melbourne Dental School Innovation Booster Award aims to support activities of research students that foster and advance innovation in selected research projects within the dental school. The Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences (MDHS) Innovation and Enterprise Committee has provided funds to promote innovation within the Melbourne Dental School. This scheme complements other School and Faculty-led initiatives by supporting research students in undertaking activities that assist innovative projects in developing novel intellectual property.

Interested in their projects? Find out more below.

Negar Yazdani
Negar Yazdani, is a dentist and third-year PhD candidate. Her research focuses on developing novel antimicrobial biomaterials to combat periodontitis and peri-implantitis and has been supported by several competitive awards and grants, including the University of Melbourne Research Scholarship, Rowden White Scholarship, Australian Periodontal Research Foundation (APRF 2025) Grant, International Meeting of Antimicrobial Peptides (IMAP 2025) Travel Bursary, Melbourne Dental School Student Travel Grant, and this Innovation Booster Award 2025. At the IMAP 2025 Conference, she presented her research and was awarded Best Oral Presentation. Currently, Negar is working on developing disease-responsive hydrogel delivery systems targeting antimicrobial-resistant oral pathogens. Her long-term goal is to translate this research into clinically viable antimicrobial coatings and hydrogels to improve periodontitis treatment, implant success rates, and reduce the global burden of antimicrobial resistance. The MDS Innovation Booster Award will directly support the development of a disease-responsive SNAPP-star hydrogel system as a next-generation local antimicrobial therapy for periodontitis and peri-implantitis. This funding will enable Negar to synthesise responsive hydrogels and evaluate their antimicrobial efficacy against key oral pathogens, generating preliminary data to support larger grant applications and translational outcomes. By supporting this project, the award advances her research innovation objectives of developing precision, biocompatible treatments that combat antimicrobial resistance, improve oral health outcomes globally, and facilitate participation in leading conferences in the field.

Negar Yazdani

Negar Yazdani, is a dentist and third-year PhD candidate. Her research focuses on developing novel antimicrobial biomaterials to combat periodontitis and peri-implantitis and has been supported by several competitive awards and grants, including the University of Melbourne Research Scholarship, Rowden White Scholarship, Australian Periodontal Research Foundation (APRF 2025) Grant, International Meeting of Antimicrobial Peptides (IMAP 2025) Travel Bursary, Melbourne Dental School Student Travel Grant, and this Innovation Booster Award 2025.

At the IMAP 2025 Conference, she presented her research and was awarded Best Oral Presentation. Currently, Negar is working on developing disease-responsive hydrogel delivery systems targeting antimicrobial-resistant oral pathogens. Her long-term goal is to translate this research into clinically viable antimicrobial coatings and hydrogels to improve periodontitis treatment, implant success rates, and reduce the global burden of antimicrobial resistance.

The MDS Innovation Booster Award will directly support the development of a disease-responsive SNAPP-star hydrogel system as a next-generation local antimicrobial therapy for periodontitis and peri-implantitis. This funding will enable Negar to synthesise responsive hydrogels and evaluate their antimicrobial efficacy against key oral pathogens, generating preliminary data to support larger grant applications and translational outcomes. By supporting this project, the award advances her research innovation objectives of developing precision, biocompatible treatments that combat antimicrobial resistance, improve oral health outcomes globally, and facilitate participation in leading conferences in the field.

Raj Singh
Raj Singh is a registered Specialist Prosthodontist in Australia and a PhD student at the Melbourne Dental School, University of Melbourne. He graduated with a Doctor of Clinical Dentistry (Prosthodontics) from the University of Otago, New Zealand on a Doctoral scholarship. He also holds Masters in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering from University College London (with distinction), and Master of Dental Surgery (Prosthodontics) from India. Outside of work, Raj enjoys travelling, indoor games and gardening. Project: Peri-implant mucositis (only soft tissue inflammation without bone loss) and peri-implantitis (also with bone loss) occur in 43% and 22% of all treated patients, respectively. Patient with complex medical conditions (such as diabetics, previous exposure to head and neck radiation, metabolic diseases, on Prolia, active periodontal disease etc.) are not eligible for dental implants due to higher risk of infection and reduced healing capacity. The aim of this clinical human trial is: (i) to develop innovative surface modification strategies for dental implant abutments, that can resist the adhesion of micro-organisms; (ii) to develop a novel platform that allows for direct evaluation of such experimental implant surfaces using standard clinical procedures. The Melbourne Dental School Innovation Booster Award 2025 will allow him to develop a combination of basic and clinical research that will facilitate the translation of new bioactive and bactericidal surfaces to meet the clinical needs of millions of patients that are managed with dental implants. The result from present clinical trial could be further utilised as a design indicator for implants in compromised tissues, novel implant design, other medical implants (such as hip implants) and biologically active implant restoration interfaces to benefit the community.

Raj Singh

Raj Singh is a registered Specialist Prosthodontist in Australia and a PhD student at the Melbourne Dental School, University of Melbourne. He graduated with a Doctor of Clinical Dentistry (Prosthodontics) from the University of Otago, New Zealand on a Doctoral scholarship. He also holds Masters in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering from University College London (with distinction), and Master of Dental Surgery (Prosthodontics) from India. Outside of work, Raj enjoys travelling, indoor games and gardening.

Project: Peri-implant mucositis (only soft tissue inflammation without bone loss) and peri-implantitis (also with bone loss) occur in 43% and 22% of all treated patients, respectively. Patient with complex medical conditions (such as diabetics, previous exposure to head and neck radiation, metabolic diseases, on Prolia, active periodontal disease etc.) are not eligible for dental implants due to higher risk of infection and reduced healing capacity. The aim of this clinical human trial is: (i) to develop innovative surface modification strategies for dental implant abutments, that can resist the adhesion of micro-organisms; (ii) to develop a novel platform that allows for direct evaluation of such experimental implant surfaces using standard clinical procedures. The Melbourne Dental School Innovation Booster Award 2025 will allow him to develop a combination of basic and clinical research that will facilitate the translation of new bioactive and bactericidal surfaces to meet the clinical needs of millions of patients that are managed with dental implants. The result from present clinical trial could be further utilised as a design indicator for implants in compromised tissues, novel implant design, other medical implants (such as hip implants) and biologically active implant restoration interfaces to benefit the community.

Tarek Abasseri
Tarek Abasseri is a current postgraduate orthodontic student and MPhil candidate. He is honoured to have been awarded the 2025 MDS Innovation Booster Award for his project investigating early intervention in skeletal Class III malocclusion. The funding will support key aspects of his research, including clinical application, assessment, and associated costs, aiding in the development and evaluation of a novel skeletal anchorage technique. These steps are critical for assessing the effectiveness of early Class III treatment approaches that may improve long-term outcomes for patients with this malocclusion. Tarek completed his dental degree with First Class Honours at the University of Adelaide. Finishing with the University Medal and several other awards, he has published in the British Dental Journal and American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics. He acknowledges and thanks the guidance of his supervisors and professors, as well as the support of the Australian Society of Orthodontists Foundation for Research and Education (ASOFRE).

Tarek Abasseri

Tarek Abasseri is a current postgraduate orthodontic student and MPhil candidate. He is honoured to have been awarded the 2025 MDS Innovation Booster Award for his project investigating early intervention in skeletal Class III malocclusion.

The funding will support key aspects of his research, including clinical application, assessment, and associated costs, aiding in the development and evaluation of a novel skeletal anchorage technique. These steps are critical for assessing the effectiveness of early Class III treatment approaches that may improve long-term outcomes for patients with this malocclusion.

Tarek completed his dental degree with First Class Honours at the University of Adelaide. Finishing with the University Medal and several other awards, he has published in the British Dental Journal and American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics. He acknowledges and thanks the guidance of his supervisors and professors, as well as the support of the Australian Society of Orthodontists Foundation for Research and Education (ASOFRE).

23 Oct 2025