Dr Lalith Prabha Ethiraj

BDS

MDS (Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery) (Singapore)

PhD (Singapore)

Researcher Interests

Oral and Maxillofacial pathologies
Temporomandibular dysfunction
Oral Pre-malignant diseases
Osteonecrosis of jaw
Bone Regeneration Therapeutics
Inflammatory Cells - neutrophils, macrophages
Application of artificial intelligence to oral health science.

Contact Researcher

About Researcher

Education and Training

Professional Appointments and Committee Memberships

Awards

Research Interests

Research Trials/Clinical Trials

Publications

Research Appointments

Research Fellow II

About Researcher

Dr Ethiraj Lalith Prabha is a Research Fellow and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon at the National Dental Centre Singapore (NDCS) and an Adjunct Research Fellow at Duke-NUS Medical School. She holds a PhD from Nanyang Technological University (2023), where her research focused on developing innovative zebrafish models to study bone diseases and osteonecrosis of the jaw. Her clinical qualifications include a Bachelor’s in Dental Surgery (India, 2002), a specialisation in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (National University of Singapore (NUS), 2013), and Advanced Surgical Training (College of Academic Medicine, Singapore, 2016). Dr. Lalith bridges the gap between clinical surgery and cutting-edge science, specializing in translational bone biology, regenerative medicine, and AI-driven digital pathology.

Education and Training

• Ph.D. Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Singapore 2023

• Dental Specialist Board Accreditation (Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery), Singapore 2016

• MDS (Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery), Singapore 2013

• Specialist diploma in Molecular Biotechnology, Singapore 2008

• BDS (India) 2002

Professional Appointments and Committee Memberships

Research Fellow, Oral Health ACP, National Dental Centre Singapore
Adjunct Research Fellow Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School
Board Member, National Dental Centre Research Review Committee
Registrar, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, National Dental Centre, Singapore, 2013 – 2017
Resident, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, National University of Singapore (NUS), 2010– 2013
Part-time lecturer National Institute of Technical Education (NITEC), Singapore, 2014-2017
Part-time Graduate student tutor in the Faculty of Dentistry, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore, 2011 – 2013
Member of International Association of Dental Research Southeast Asian Division, 2023-Present
Member of Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, 2016 -present
Member of International Zebrafish Society -since 2020
Member of Indian Dental Association- since 2002

Awards

Khoos Pilot Award – DUKE-NUS Academic Medicine 2026
IADR SEA 2025 – Hatton Award-Senior category- 1st runner up
Duke NUS Nurturing Clinician Researcher Scheme - Clinician Investigator Development Award (CIVDA) -2024
Best poster presentation at the New Frontiers in Biomedicine conference, Singapore, 2022
Best Oral presentation award at the Fish Bone workshop organised by the European Calcified Tissue Society, 2021
Nanyang Technological University research scholarship (2019-2022)

Research Interests

Oral and Maxillofacial pathologies
Temporomandibular dysfunction
Oral Pre-malignant diseases
Osteonecrosis of jaw
Bone Regeneration Therapeutics
Inflammatory Cells - neutrophils, macrophages
Application of artificial intelligence to oral health science.

Research Trials/Clinical Trials

• Novel management of MRONJ using small molecule inhibitors (PI).

• Validating a glucomannan coating scaffold in the modulation of host macrophage phenotype to improve post-extraction osteogenesis (PI).

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Application in Oral Health Sciences towards Automatization of Digital Pathology Workflow (PI).

• Nerve injury assessment for third molar surgery with radiographic imaging (Co-I).

• A clinical study: To evaluate the use of a novel activatable probe to detect malignancy in oral lesions (Co-I).

• A novel technique using patient-specific polycaprolactone-tricalcium phosphate scaffold with adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells for alveolar ridge augmentation (Co-I).

• Development of a new BRONJ animal model and investigating the immunological and cellular mechanisms involved (PhD project).

Publications

Prabha EL, Carney T, Wang C. Activating host macrophages with glucomannan-coated scaffold accelerates osteogenic differentiation. Indian Journal of Dental Research. 2026 Mar 1;37(Suppl 1):S2
Hu J, Zhong Y, Huang S, Lau CS, Ethiraj LP, Goh BT, Zhang B, Zhang X, Kuang Z. Engineered with tannic acid–magnesium metal-phenolic frameworks: A multifunctional 3D-printed PCL/TCP scaffold for bone regeneration. Biomaterials Advances. 2026 Apr 18:214893.
Lau CS, Park SY, Ethiraj LP, Singh P, Raj G, Quek J, Prasadh S, Choo Y, Goh BT. Role of Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Bone Regeneration. Int J Mol Sci. 2024.
Ethiraj LP. Developing a zebrafish model of bisphosphonate-induced osteonecrosis of the jaw to define cellular and molecular mechanisms.(2023)
Ethiraj LP, Fong EL, Liu R, Chan M, Winkler C, Carney TJ. Colorimetric and fluorescent TRAP assays for visualising and quantifying fish osteoclast activity. European journal of histochemistry: EJH. 2022 Mar 24;66(2):3369
Liu R, Imangali N, Ethiraj LP, Carney TJ and Wrinkler C. Transcriptome profiling of osteoblasts in a Medaka (Oryzias latipes) Osteoporosis Model identifies Mmp13b as crucial for osteoclast activation. Front. Cell Dev. Biol.2022(10)
Ethiraj LP, Carney TJ. Insights into bisphosphonate-mediated jaw necrosis from a zebrafish model. Bone Reports 2021;14:101039.
Fong EL, Prabha EL, Carney TJ. Developing a whole mount fluorescent activity assay to visualize and quantify in situ osteoclast activity in zebrafish. In Orthopedic Proceedings 2020 Dec 1 (Vol. 102, No. SUPP_11, pp. 123-123). Bone & Joint.
Tomecka MJ, Ethiraj LP, Sánchez LM, et al. Clinical pathologies of bone fracture modelled in zebrafish. Disease models & mechanisms 2019;12(9):dmm037630.