Dr Charlotte Illsley

Charlotte is employed at the University of Plymouth as a lecturer in Integrated Dental Science. Charlotte is the Year 2 BDS Programme Co-lead, Fitness to Practise Lead for Peninsula Dental School and one of the Professionalism leads in Peninsula Dental School. Teaching Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) and Dental Therapy & Hygiene (BDTH), Charlotte focuses on the physiology and molecular biology that underpins dentistry. 

 

Originally graduating with a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences, Charlotte started her PhD in Dr Bing Hu's research group in 2017 and has been investigating various proteins involved in cell fate and differentiation in healthy human skin and cancer. Charlotte's research explores the mechanisms involved in epidermal stratification and differentiation and investigating how these might be involved in the initiation and progression of skin cancer, while exploring how some of these proteins could be manipulated to form novel cancer therapies. 

 

Charlotte is also exploring the molecular mechanisms behind the oral symptoms experienced by women that are linked to hormonal fluctuations throughout their reproductive lifetime. There are a wide range of debilitating oral side effects of pregnancy, cancer therapies and menopause, most of which aren’t fully understood. Dentists currently have very little advice or treatment they can offer their patients, as the majority of treatments focus on relieving and managing the symptoms rather than treating the underlying cause. Therefore, identifying the mechanisms behind oestrogen induced oral dysfunction is very important in developing novel therapeutic treatments for women, which will in turn greatly reduce treatment cost, reduce the burden of avoidable dental treatment, and pivotally will contribute to addressing these health inequalities, helping to close the gender gap in medical and dental research and help to improve the quality of life for patients. 

 
August 2022 - Present  Lecturer in Integrated Dental Science
May 2021 - July 2022  Research Fellow
October 2017 - April 2021 Research Associate in Stem Cell and Cancer Biology