Nikolaos Christidis

2007 Best Poster Award – Clinical research, Karolinska Institutet

2011 Best thesis award (during 2010-2011), Swedish Dental Society

2012 The Wiley-Blackwell Neuroscience Young Investigator Award, International Association for Dental Research (IADR)

2020 Granted for writing educational book (Bettfysiologi – Orofacial smärta och käkfunktion), The Swedish Association of Educational Writers

2020 Member of the Pedagogical Academy at Karolinska Institutet – excellence in teaching.

2022-2024 President of the Neuroscience Group of the International Association for Dental Research

2000-06 Philology – modern Greek, Stockholm University

2002-05 DDS, Karolinska Institutet

2010-06 PhD in Medical Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, title: The serotonin receptor type 3 in chronic and experimental human muscle pain

2011-10 Specialist in stomatognathic physioloogy (orofacial pain), Eastmaninstitutet Folktandvården AB

2012-02 Doctoral Supervisor Training course, Karolinska Institutet

2012-12 Teaching and learning in Higher Education, Karolinska Institutet

2016-05 Specialist in Advanced Pain Medicine, Scandinavian Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (SSAI)

2017-01 Associate professor in odontology, Karolinska Institutet

2017-05 Open Networked Learning, Karolinska Insitutet

2018-05 The Role of Higher Education, Dalarna University

2019-11 Future Education Leaders, Karolinska Insitutet

2024 Appointed Professor of Clinical Oral Physiology, Karolinska Institutet

The main focus of my research is on orofacial pain of muscular origin, from causes to treatment in both children and adults. It is well known, that the impact of pain in the orofacial region is not only the unpleasant sensory experience but also an emotional experience. These chronic pain conditions affect the temporomandibular joint or the masticatory muscles as well as their associated structures. It has a prevalence of approximately 10–20% and is 1.5 to 2 times more prevalent in women.

In order to improve and add new therapeutical tools we need to increase the knowledge of the cause, if and how orofacial pain affects jaw function, and how effective different treatment modalities are in both children and adults. Regarding the cause of orofacial pain we are investigating the expression of pain-receptors in human muscle tissue of both healthy participants and patients with myalgia, also in a prevalence study investigating risk-factors to develop orofacial pain in young age.

When it comes to jaw function we are investigating if and how jaw muscle pain affect fine motor function and chewing performance, and regarding treatment we are doing the first treatment study (in our knowledge) of myalgia and/or arthralgia of the temporomandibular joints in the growing individual in order to evaluate treatment efficacy and any possible side-effects. I also focus on pedagogical research, specifically investigating how learning is shaped within different national and international medical and teaching programmes. One area of particular interest focuses on academic and professional writing, which includes what, how, and for what purposes our students read and write.