Team and Collaborators
Shaju Jacob Pulikkotil
Position: Group Leader & Tenured Professor
Affiliation: Faculty of Dentistry, Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU)
Short Bio: Tenured Professor leading the Oral Health Research (OHR) group at RSU. His research spans oral epidemiology, oral microbiome interactions, health economics, and evidence-based health policy. He leads multi-disciplinary initiatives aiming to improve community oral health outcomes across Latvia.
Xenia Teplitzky
Position: Visiting Scientific Assistant
Affiliation: OHR Group, RSU
Short Bio: Researcher specializing in health economics. Holds a Master of Science in Health Economics from the University of Cologne. Focuses on state-transition modeling, health economic evaluation of pediatric dental interventions, and disease progression simulation.
Darja Gostilo
Position: Researcher / PhD Candidate
Affiliation: OHR Group, RSU
Short Bio: Researcher leading the caregiver survey study investigating the direct, indirect, and intangible costs associated with managing pediatric dental caries across Latvia. Her work focuses on health economics, out-of-pocket expenses, and parent-reported outcomes.
Aurēlija Ušacova
Position: Researcher
Affiliation: OHR Group, RSU
Short Bio: Specialist focusing on qualitative health research and stakeholder engagement in pediatric dentistry. Her work explores the psychological, logistical, and social impact of preventable dental conditions on children and families.
Taka Tanabe
Position: Researcher
Affiliation: OHR Group, RSU
Short Bio: Researcher focusing on primary healthcare integration and preventive care strategies. Works on bridging family medicine (ģimenes ārsti) and oral health promotion through systematic reviews and cross-sectional evaluations.
Megija Florintine
Position: Student Researcher
Affiliation: OHR Group, RSU
Short Bio: Assisting with data collection, trial coordination, and field administration for ongoing population-based oral health surveys across Latvia.
Sigita Pantele
Position: Student Researcher
Affiliation: OHR Group, RSU
Short Bio: Supporting clinical research logistics, ethics administration, and community outreach for oral health studies in Latvia.
Jekaterina Sarvuta
Position: Student Researcher
Affiliation: OHR Group, RSU
Short Bio: Supporting survey administration, database maintenance, and statistical prep work for pediatric oral health economic studies.
Jeļena Iļjina
Position: Student Researcher
Affiliation: OHR Group, RSU
Short Bio: Supporting data collection, retrospective patient record processing, and database preparation for health economic modeling studies on childhood dental caries.
Prof. Dr. Falk Schwendicke
Position & Institution: Head of the Department of Oral Diagnostics, Digital Health and Health Services Research at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
Collaboration Scope: Partners with OHR on state-transition modeling, health economic frameworks, and systematic reviews on pediatric dental caries progression.
Assoc. Prof. Georgios Tsilingaridis
Position & Institution: Head of the Division of Pediatric Dentistry and Vice Dean, Department of Dental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
Collaboration Scope: Collaborates with OHR on paediatric dental caries scoping reviews, transition probability modeling, and trauma/caries prevention research.
Dr. Blend Hamza
Position & Institution: Senior Researcher & Clinician, Center for Dental Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Collaboration Scope: Collaborates on simulation-based modeling approaches, scoping reviews for caries progression, and restorative pediatric dentistry methodology.
Assoc. Prof. Laura Neimane
Position & Institution: Dean, Faculty of Dentistry, Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU).
Collaboration Scope: Institutional co-investigator providing academic oversight, pediatric dentistry alignment, and co-authoring systematic reviews on health state transitions.
Dr. Jekaterina Gudkina
Position & Institution: Associate Professor / Senior Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry, RSU & Institute of Stomatology.
Collaboration Scope: Clinical expert advisor collaborating on clinical health state definitions, expert Delphi validation, and systematic evidence synthesis for paediatric caries.
