Antonio Celentano

Antonio Celentano is an Associate Professor in Special Care Dentistry at the Melbourne Dental School, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne. He is a clinician-scientist with over ten years of academic experience in oral medicine and oral oncology. Celentano holds qualifications including DDS, LDS, GCUT, MAS in Oral Medicine and Special Needs Dentistry, and PhD. His career at the University of Melbourne includes progression from Senior Lecturer to Associate Professor, where he serves as Component Convenor for Special Needs Dentistry and heads the Oral Medicine and Oral Cancer Group. He has mentored over 200 students and established four PC2-certified laboratories at the Melbourne Dental School. Celentano has secured over AU$2.54 million in research grants, including an Australian Dental Research Foundation (ADRF) grant in 2021 for investigating anticoagulants in oral squamous cell carcinoma treatment, University of Melbourne Learning and Teaching Initiatives Grants in 2021, and involvement as an investigator in the ARC Research Hub to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance. In 2023, he was appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Oral Pathology & Medicine (Wiley) for a three-year term, succeeding Professor Peter Brennan.

Celentano's research specializations encompass oral cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, special needs dentistry education, and molecular mechanisms in oral diseases. Key publications include 'Can a cup a day keep cancer away? A systematic review exploring the potential of coffee constituents in preventing oral squamous cell carcinoma' (Journal of Oral Pathology and Medicine, recognized as top-viewed), a study establishing the first standardised model for real-time in vivo microscopic screening of oral mucosa for cancer using confocal laser endomicroscopy (Methods journal), 'Towards an emerging role for anticoagulants in cancer therapy' (Frontiers in Oral Health, 2024), 'Convolutional neural networks for accurate real-time diagnosis of oral cancer' (Scientific Reports, 2025), 'Eosinophils in Oral Disease: A Narrative Review' (International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2024), and 'The global distribution of special needs dentistry across dental curricula' (2024). His work features collaborations with the University of Melbourne, WHO, and Wintermute Pharmaceuticals, with presentations at events such as the 22nd International Congress of Oral Pathology and Medicine and the 10th International Academy of Oral Oncology. Celentano's Google Scholar profile reports 1,496 total citations, an h-index of 23, and i10-index of 45. His contributions advance non-invasive oral cancer detection, anticoagulant roles in oncology, and global standards for special needs dentistry training.

Professional Email: antonio.celentano@unimelb.edu.au