LASERS, MICROBIOLOGY AND DENTAL MATERIALS IN CLINICAL DENTAL PRACTICE
Professor Laurence Walsh AO
Emeritus Professor, School of Dentistry, University of Queensland &
Adjunct Professor, Griffith University, Queensland &
Chief Dental Officer, Dentroid
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | December 2024
Prof Walsh is a well known senior dental academic and dental board registered specialist in special needs dentistry. He completed his basic dental training and his PhD at the University of Queensland and then his post doctoral education at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, followed by executive education at Stanford University and Harvard University. In addition to his multiple dental and educational qualifications, Prof Walsh is a member of the Australian Institute of Safety and Health, and an associate member of the Australian Institute of Physics. He has served for over 25 years as a laser safety officer. Prof Walsh was a member of the UQ Centre for Laser Science for 11 years.
Prof Walsh has one major national awards for research and teaching excellence, and has been made a life member of the ANZ Academy of special needs dentistry, and the Australian Dental Association. In 2018, he was appointed as an officer of the order of Australia (AO) in recognition of his contributions to dental education and dental research.
Prof Walsh has served on the academic staff of the University of Queensland School of Dentistry for 40 years, including for 21 years as the research group leader in advanced technologies. Since retiring from UQ in 2020 and then being appointed as an emeritus professor, Prof Walsh has continued his involvement with specialist training and clinical research at UQ, and continued applied research in advanced technologies.
Prof Walsh was Australia’s first multi-wavelength laser user in 1988, and he has published over 100 articles and 3 textbooks on the topic of laser dentistry. He has a further 300 journal publications on other topics, and his published work has attracted over 20,000 citations in the literature. Based on citation impact, in October 2023 Prof Walsh was ranked in the top 5 Australian dental scientists of all time in the Stanford University listing of the world’s top 2% of scientists.
Prof Walsh has represented the Australian Dental Association on multiple committees of Standards Australia since 1992 (including laser safety). He has taught laser safety and clinical laser procedures around the world for over 30 years. Prof Walsh has been the president of the Australian Association for laser dentistry since 2018.
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Digital Biomarkers and AI for Optimal Diagnosis, Treatment, and Decision-Making
Associate Professor Johan Verjans is a clinician-scientist with a strong focus on cross-disciplinary translational research. In his role as Deputy Director at the Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML)—one of the world’s premier machine learning institutes, with over 200 researchers—and as Group Leader of Artificial Intelligence at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), he integrates his expertise in molecular medicine, clinical research, and advanced imaging with machine learning applications. This unique combination enables him to drive the translation of cutting-edge AI research into practical medical applications. He works with global teams from multinationals on AI problems.
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Using Gut Microbes to Reduce Blood Pressure
Professor Francine Marques is an National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leader, Viertel Charitable Foundation, and National Heart Foundation Fellow.
She leads the Hypertension Research Laboratory at Monash University and has published more than 120 peer-reviewed papers in journals such as Nature Reviews Cardiology, Nature Medicine, Nature Cardiovascular Research, and Circulation.
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Exercise program for the prevention of osteoporotic fracture
Dr Beck is an international leader in the effects of mechanical loading on bone health. Dr Beck graduated from The University of Queensland (BHMS[Ed]) and the University of Oregon (MSc and PhD) and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Stanford University School of Medicine (California, USA.) She is a Professor of Exercise Science at Griffith University Gold Coast campus, where she has led the Bone Densitometry Research Laboratory since 2004.
