Dr Toby Hughes

Biography/ Background

I hold a PhD in genetics from the University of Adelaide and I currently work as a senior lecturer in the School of Dentistry.  I am a member of Professor Grant Townsend's Craniofacial Biology Research Group.  Professor Townsend's group has spent the past 20 years, with continuous support from the NHMRC, assembling a large collection of longitudinal dental records from Australian twins/sib-pairs and their families.  The collection is unique within Australia and one of very few worldwide.  I have been conducting research on these data, with the aim of identifying genetic and environmental influences on craniofacial growth and development. The group is now entering an exciting new phase of research, making use of modern molecular genetic techniques to identify genes associated with dental development and oral health.

Qualifications

PhD (The University of Adelaide) 2003
BAgSci (The University of Adelaide) 1994

Research Interests

My primary research interest is identifying genes associated with dental development and oral health. Other interests include genotype x genotype interactions associated with oral micro-flora, functional genomics of oral development, and epigenetic modulation of gene expression.

 

I am currently involved in a number of research projects with common underlying themes.  One is modelling family data to establish the relative contributions of genes and environment to observed variation in features such as tooth size and spacing, cusp spacing, 3D surface morphology, arch shape, and occlusion. I have developed longitudinal models to identify common and unique genetic factors associated with the primary, mixed and permanent dentitions.

 

Another project is examining two closely related developmental events in Australian newborn twins - timing of emergence of the primary teeth and timing of colonisation of the oral cavity by Mutans streptococci, a primary agent in dental decay. Evidence suggests the prevalence of delayed tooth emergence is increasing in developed populations, presenting a smaller window of opportunity for colonisation and reducing the incidence of decay in primary teeth.

Both projects establish a baseline to develop models incorporating molecular data arising from the human genome project. We are planning to conduct genetic linkage and association analyses on data arising from both studies, to identify specific genes that contribute significantly to orofacial growth and development, and to oral health.

Publications

2005-2009

Woodroffe S, Mihailidis S, Hughes TE, Bockmann MR, Seow WK, Gotjamanos T and Townsend GC (2009). Primary tooth emergence in Australian twins: timing, sequence and patterns of asymmetry. Aust. Dent. J. (in press, accepted September 2009).

Townsend GC, Hughes TE, Bockmann MR, Smith R, Brook A (2009). How studies of twins can inform our understanding of dental morphology. Front. Oral. Biol. 13: 136-141 (in press, accepted July 2009).

Kunchur R, Need A, Hughes TE and Goss AN (2009). A clinical investigation of the CTX test in the prevention and management of bisphosphonate associated ONJ. J. Oral Maxillo. Surg. 6: 1167-1173.

Lau EY, Sampson WJ, Townsend GC and Hughes T (2009). An evaluation of maxillary and mandibular rotational responses with the Clark twin block appliance. Aust. Orthod. J. 25: 48-58.

Higgins D, Hughes TE, James H and Townsend GC (2009). Strong genetic influence on hypocone expression of permanent maxillary molars in South Australian twins. Dent. Anthrop. (in press, accepted December 2008).

Townsend GC, Hughes TE, Luciano M, Bockmann MR and Brook A (2009). Genetic and environmental influences on human dental variation: A critical evaluation of studies involving twins. Arch. Oral Biol. (online version available).

Ranjitkar S, Naryana T, Kaidonis J, Hughes TE, Richards LC and Townsend GC (2009). The effect of casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate on erosive dentine wear. Aust. Dent. J. (in press, accepted August 2008).

Sobhi, P., Mihailidis S., Rogers J., Hughes T.E. and Townsend G.C. (2007). Asymmetric eruption of permanent teeth in Australian Aborigines. Dent. Anthropol. 20: 33-41.

Hughes, T.E., Bockmann, M.R., Seow, K., Gotjamanos, T., Gully, N., Richards, L.C. and Townsend, G.C. (2007). Strong genetic control of emergence of human primary incisors. J. Dent. Res. 86: 1160-1165.

Townsend, G.C., Richards, L.C., Messer, L., Hughes, T.E, Pinkerton, S.K., Seow, W.K, Gotjamanos, T., Gully, N. and Bockmann, M.R. (2006). Genetic and environmental influences on dentofacial structures and oral health: studies of Australian twins and their families. Twin Res. Hum. Genet. 9(6):727-732.

Townsend, G.C., Hughes, T.E. and Richards, L.C. (2006). Gaining new insights into how genetic factors influence human dental development by studying twins. Int. J. Anthropol. 21: 67-74.

Lin, N.H., Ranjitkar, S., Macdonald, R., Hughes, T.E., Taylor, J. and Townsend, G. (2006). New growth references for assessment of stature and skeletal maturation in Australians.. Aust. Ortho. J. 22: 1-10.

Rajion, Z., Townsend, G.C., Netherway, D., Anderson, P., Hughes, T.E., Shuiab, I., Halim, A., Samsudin, A., McLean, N. and David, D. (2006). The hyoid bone in Malay infants with cleft lip and palate. Cleft Palate - Craniofac. J. 43: 532-538.

Rajion, Z., Townsend, G.C., Netherway, D., Anderson, P., Yusof, A., Hughes, T.E., Shuiab, I., Halim, A., Samsudin, A. and David, D. (2006). A three-dimensional computed tomographic analysis of the cervical spine in unoperated infants with cleft lip and palate. Cleft Palate - Craniofac. J. 43: 513-518.

Race, J., Hughes, T.E. and Townsend, G.C. (2006). Chorion type, birth weight discordance and tooth-size variability in Australian monozygotic twins. Twin Res. Hum. Genet. 9: 285-291.

Townsend G.C., Hughes T.E. and Richards L.C. (2005). The dentitions of monozygotic twin pairs: focusing on the differences rather than the similarities. In ‘Current trends in dental morphology research'. E. Zadzinska (ed), Refereed proceedings, 13th International Symposium on Dental Morphology, University of Lodz, Poland, pp 337-352.

Townsend, G.C., Richards, L.C., Hughes, T.E., Pinkerton, S. and Schwerdt, W. (2005). Epigenetic influences may explain dental differences in monozygotic twin pairs. Aust. Dent. J. 50: 95-100.

Professional Associations

International Association of Dental Research; International Society of Twin Studies; American Association of Physical Anthropology; Australian Association of Human Biology; Australian Association of Medical Researchers

Professional Interests

Genetics
Human Genetics
Dental Genetics
Craniofacial Growth & Development
Structural Equation Modelling
Twins

Entry last updated: Saturday, 3 Oct 2009