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Contact Details

Phone
64 3 479 5686
Email
alison.rich@otago.ac.nz
Position
Professor
Department
Department of Oral Sciences
Qualifications
BDS(Otago) MDSc PhD(Melb) FRACDS FFOP(RCPA) FRCPath
Research summary
Current research interests are in the tumour microenvironment in oral cancer and immune regulation in oral lichen planus.
Clinical

Alison led the Oral Pathology Centre, which provides specialist diagnostic oral pathology reports to dentists, dental specialists, and anatomical pathologists.

The Centre:

  • Analyses 2,500–3,000 specimens annually
  • Is fully equiped and certified for histopathology with accreditation in Medical Laboratory Testing (Histology) from International Accreditation New Zealand
  • Has Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA), accreditation for teaching oral pathology

Research

Professor Rich's research interests related to gaining a greater understanding of the pathogenesis of oral diseases, particularly oral cancer and oral lichen planus, to complement her clinical speciality of diagnostic oral pathology.

Her main research interest in oral cancer was in developing tools to more accurately predict the transformation of potentially malignant oral diseases to oral cancer and, investigation of the role of immune cells in the oral cancer environment. She has expertise in project design in these areas, in data analysis and in mentoring colleagues and post- and undergraduate students undertaking related projects. She has supervised numerous PhD and DClinDent students from around the world, with particular interest in supporting the development of diagnostic and research oral pathology in the Asia-Pacific region.

Professor Rich was the leader of the Oral Molecular and Immunopathology Programme of the Sir John Walsh Research Institute and had numerous international collaborative projects, especially with colleagues in Malaysia, Australia and Sri Lanka.

Additional details

Professor Rich is a past Chair of the Faculty of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) and is also a past Chief Examiner. She is an Associate Editor of Pathology, the journal of the RCPA. Her laboratory convenes the oral and maxillofacial Quality Assurance Programme for the RCPA.

Alison is the President Elect of the International Association of Oral Pathologists (IAOP) and was previously an IAOP Regional Councillor. She has participated in numerous IAOP congresses over the years.

Publications

Sameera, A., bin Mohd Nizar, M. A., Hussaini, H. M., Cooper, P., Rich, A. M., & Seo, B. (2026). The relative frequency of oral lichen planus and oral lichenoid lesions in a New Zealand population diagnosed at a specialist reference centre. Clinical & Experimental Dental Research, 12, e70330. doi: 10.1002/cre2.70330 Journal - Research Article

Arora, S., Cooper, P. R., Friedlander, L. T., Ratnayake, J. T., Rizwan, S. B., Seo, B., Rich, A. M., & Hussaini, H. M. (2026). Differential expressions of inflammatory, dentinogenic, regulatory, proliferative and stemness genes in non-carious and carious human dental pulp tissues: An ex vivo proof-of-concept study. International Endodontic Journal. Advance online publication. Journal - Research Article

Vargas, P. A., Santos-Silva, A. R., Lingen, M., van Heerden, W., Gomez, R. S., Odell, E., … Rich, A. M. (2026). Golden Jubilee of the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathologists (IAOP). Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology & Oral Radiology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.oooo.2026.01.020 Journal - Research Other

Yakin, M., Seo, B., Hussaini, H. M., & Rich, A. M. (2025). Immunohistochemical expression pattern of leukemia inhibitory factor and its receptor may mark a tipping point in the progression of oral cancer. Scientific Reports, 15, 35059. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-96841-7 Journal - Research Article

Sameera, A., Seo, B., Hussaini, H. M., Cooper, P. R., Rich, A. M., & Sun, Q. (2025, September). Unfolded protein response in the pathogenesis of oral lichen planus and oral lichenoid lesions. Verbal presentation at the Faculty of Dentistry Clinical and Research Excellence Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

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