A researcher in a white lab coat works with beakers and test tubes in a lab.
Dr. Lina Marin is an assistant professor in the College of Dentistry. (Photo: Dave Stobbe)

USask researcher's work highlighted on oral health series

Dr. Lina Marin’s presentation on omics technologies launched a new series of webinars featuring the research of early career investigators.

A College of Dentistry assistant professor helped debut a series of webinars on oral health research methodologies.

Dr. Lina Marin’s presentation “Overview of omics technologies in oral health and disease” was the initial offering for the webinar series hosted by CIHR-Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (IMHA), Network for Canadian Oral Health Research (NCOHR) and the Canadian Association for Dental Research (CADR).

The webinars, beginning with Dr. Marin’s Dec. 8 presentation, provide a basis for discussion on the future of oral health research in Canada and will feature the work of early career investigators.

“I am pleased to be able to share my work and the important research being done at the USask College of Dentistry,” Dr. Marin said. “Providing a platform for early career investigators to highlight their efforts in front of an audience of their peers and others through a webinar provides an excellent opportunity to expand knowledge among a community of oral health researchers.

"Omic technologies allow exhaustive and highly complex analyzes of biomolecules such as genes, proteins, metabolites, among others, present in any type of biological sample. The great advantage offered by these technologies is they are cost-effective tools that allow the integration of different areas of biology to study the role played by these biomolecules in health and disease processes."

Dr. Marin completed her postdoctoral training at the USask College of Dentistry in 2022 and is currently a tenure-track assistant professor and course coordinator for dental materials courses in the college. She obtained her DDS degree from the National University of Colombia in 2007 and pursued a professional career centred on academia and research with a MSc in Basic Biomedical Sciences from El Bosque University (Colombia), a PhD in Dentistry – Cariology from the State University of Campinas, Brazil, and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering Sciences – Biomaterials from Western University in London, Ont.

Dentistry, oral health and oral health-related research in Canada and internationally is receiving more attention, according to NCOHR. That’s thanks in part to news of a proposed national dental care program in Canada, as well as the recently released World Health Organization (WHO) Global Oral Health Status Report and its soon-to-be released Global Oral Health Action Plan.

Each webinar in the series is 60 minutes in length and include a 45-minute presentation and 15 minutes for questions and discussion.