Assessment of genetic factors in the development of apical periodontitis – a multicentre study

Short explanation of the study

This is the first large-scale European multicentre clinical-laboratory case-control matched study that will investigate whether carriers of specific genotypes and/or alleles of genes involved in the immune-inflammatory process of alveolar bone resorption in apical periodontitis (e.g., SNPs in encoding genes for proinflammatory cytokines, MMPs and TIMPs, bone resorption modulators and parameters of oxidative stress) are more prone to development of apical periodontitis, specific clinical and radiographic apical periodontitis phenotypes and persistent apical periodontitis. Although this study will investigate the risk for the development of apical periodontitis among 3600 participants, it will be very interesting to explore and present potential geographical differences of all analysed outcomes in and between each included population of seven European countries (University of Belgrade, Serbia, University of Cagliari, Italy; University of Dublin, Ireland; University of Malmö, Sweden; University of Münster, Germany; University of Nantes, France, and Yeditepe University, Turkey).

 

A summary of career

Aleksandar Jakovljevic (born 1986) is an Assistant Professor and Research Associate at the Department of Pathophysiology, Division of Oral Rehabilitation, School of Dental Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia. In addition, he serves as a Head of Scientific Laboratories at Implant-Research Center, School of Dental Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia. He has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed international journals in the field of etiopathogenesis and epidemiology of apical periodontitis and received more than 550 citations with an H-index of 14. His investigations have been selected by the American Association of Endodontists Continuing Education Committee for inclusion in Endo On Demand CE program. He is a member of the editorial and scientific boards of the International Endodontic Journal and the Journal of Endodontics. He also acts as a reviewer of 55 international journals on the Journal Citation Report list and as an external reviewer for the French Institute for Dental Research. During his academic carrier he has received several prestigious awards for his scientific work provided by Balkan Stomatological Society, Austrian, French and European Society of Endodontology. In 2015 and 2019 he has been awarded with Young Investigators Research Grants of the European Society of Endodontology. In 2023 he spent one month of his postdoctoral education at the Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey, to contribute to a Horizon 2020 EU project. Along with other colleagues, he is mentoring 4 PhD theses currently being conducted at the School of Dental Medicine, University of Belgrade. As a senior reviewer, he took part in the S3 Clinical Guidelines ESE project and was invited speaker at the 19^th and 21^st European Endodontic Society Biennial Congress in 2019 and 2023, respectively. In parallel, he is involved in private practice limited to Restorative Odontology and Endodontics in Belgrade, Serbia. Finally, Aleksandar is a happy husband and father of two young kids.