Their continued presence on campus, and the nature of the dental work itself, increase their risk of exposure to COVID-19. The Government of Canada is investing approximately $1.4 million through its COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, to support a pan-Canadian study investigating COVID-19 infection rates, transmission risks, and immune system responses of those working in dental clinics, laboratories, and offices in universities.
Dr. Walter Siqueira (DDS, PhD), professor and associate dean academic in the College of Dentistry is a leader in this study through the USask Salivary Proteomics Research Laboratory, one of only a few labs in the world focused on applied salivary research. The study, which is co-led by Drs. Paul Allison (DDS, PhD) and Sreenath Madathil (PhD) of McGill University’s Faculty of Dentistry and Dr. Michael Glogauer (DDS, PhD) of the Faculty of Dentistry at University of Toronto, includes investigators from all 10 Canadian dental schools.