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About Peter
Associate Professor Peter Cathro serves as Head of the Department of Oral Rehabilitation in the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Otago and holds the position of Associate Dean (Space) in the Division of Health Sciences. He earned his BDS and MDS degrees from the University of Otago, along with a PGCertTertT from Otago and a PhD from the University of Adelaide. Specializing in endodontics since completing his training in 1994, Cathro has built a career encompassing private clinical practice, academic leadership, and research. After his specialist qualification, he practiced as an endodontist in Melbourne and Auckland. He then joined the University of Otago as a Senior Lecturer, later advancing to Head of Discipline at the University of Adelaide for seven years before returning to Otago approximately ten years ago. In this role, he has overseen departmental operations, contributed to infrastructure projects including a secondment as Programme Manager Organisational Delivery for the new dental clinic, and collaborated with the Campus Development team. Cathro teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students, delivers hands-on endodontic courses, and presents lectures at international conferences in Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. He is currently pursuing an MBA, focusing on space utilization in educational settings.
Cathro's research focuses on endodontics to support root canal practice and clinical teaching, with particular interests in microbial adaptation—stemming from his PhD thesis on proteomic analysis of Enterococcus faecalis cell surface proteins under high alkaline stress conditions—and endodontic applications of hydroxyapatite. He reviews manuscripts for five peer-reviewed journals and serves on the editorial board of the Australian Endodontic Journal. Notable publications include 'A critical review of in vitro methodologies for studying inflammatory responses in human dental pulp cell cultures' with Arora et al. (2025, International Endodontic Journal), 'Bioceramics in endodontics: Limitations and future innovations: A review' with Prasad Kumara et al. (2025, Dentistry Journal), 'Montmorillonite in dentistry: A review of advances in research and potential clinical applications' with Prasad Kumara et al. (2024, Materials Research Express), 'Hyperglycaemia promotes mineralisation of human dental pulp cells: An exploratory in vitro study' with Chao et al. (2024, International Endodontic Journal), and 'Mechanical properties, and in vitro biocompatibility assessment of biomimetic dual layered keratin/hydroxyapatite scaffolds' with Feroz et al. (2023, Frontiers in Bioengineering & Biotechnology). Cathro supervises doctoral theses in endodontics and related areas at the University of Otago.
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