Dr. Anna P Joseph

Brief Introduction

Dr. Anna P. Joseph is Professor and Head, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, PMS College of Dental Science and Research, Trivandrum. She completed her MDS in Oral Pathology from Government Dental College, Trivandrum, in 2005 and BDS from MGR University. With nearly 20 years of teaching experience, she is an approved PhD research guide under the Kerala University of Health Sciences since 2019. Her areas of academic and research interest include oral premalignant and malignant diseases. She is acknowledged for her contribution to Shafer’s Textbook of Oral Pathology and she has several publications in reputed journals.

Research Area

Oral potentially malignant disorders and Oral cancer.

Research Experience

• Professor and PG guide, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, PMS college of Dental sciences and Research.

• PhD guide, KUHS from 2019

• Member of institutional scientific review committee

• Reviewer for scientific journals

• Session editor for institutional journal, PMS college of Dental sciences and Research.

• Guided MDS students and currently guiding 3 MDS students for their research

• Guided one undergraduate student who received KUHS research award 2024-25

Guided the following studies for MDS (Master of Dental Surgery at KUHS)

1. Characterization of macrophage subpopulations in oral lichen planus using CD 64 and CD 163: An immunohistochemical Study

2. Role of tumor associated macrophages in oral squamous cell carcinoma-a Systematic Review

3. Immunohistochemical Quantification Of Macrophage Subpopulations M1, M2 In Periapical Cyst And Paradental Cyst Using CD64 and CD163

4. Chronic Inflammatory mediator,IL-8 in OSCC –A systematic review of meta analysis

5. Evaluation Of Systemic Immune Inflammation Index And Tissue Lymphocytic Population In Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma , Oral Leukoplakia And Normal Mucosa-An Immunohistochemical Study

6. Assessment Of The Role Of Anti – Transcriptional Intermediary Factor1γ Peptides In Oral Carcinoma

7. Evaluation Of Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes And Natural Killer Cell Distribution In Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma And Oral Epithelial Dysplasias Using Immunohistochemical Expression Of Cd8 And Cd57.

8. Comparative Evaluation Of Pd-1 And Pd-L1 Expression In Oral Leukoplakia, Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma And Normal Oral Mucosa

Current Research Projects

• PhD work –  Association between periodontitis and oral cancer

• PG thesis work:

  1. Cellular Characterization And Transcriptomic Profiling Of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines Treated With Artocarpus Altilis Fruit Pulp extract

  2. Evaluation Of The Expression Of Angiogenic Markers Cd 105 And Α- Sma In Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma And Oral Epithelial Dysplasia – An Immunohistochemical Study

Funded Projects

Co-investigator for DST FIST Project (Rs. 1.04 crore)

Publications (Indexed in WOS, SCOPUS & MEDLINE) :

1. Joseph A P, Rajendran.R. Submucosa precedes lamina propria in initiating fibrosis in oral submucous fibrosis-evidence based on collagen histochemistry. Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology Journal Vol 1No.1 Jan-June 2010

2. Suresh R, Janardhanan M, Joseph AP, Vinodkumar RB, Peter S. A Rare case of Dentigerous cyst in a one year old child: The Earliest Known Reported Occurrence, Head and Neck Pathol (2011) 5:171-174

3. Sheikh S, Ravendranath R, Banerjee M, Joseph AP, Jahgirdar P. Evidence for transforming growth factor- beta 3 gene polymorphism in non-syndromic cleft lip and palate patients from Indian sub-continent , Med Oral patol oral cir bucal. 2012 Mar 1;17 (2): e197-200

4. Varun BR, Bindu J Nair, Sivakumar TT, Anna P Joseph. Matrix metalloproteinases and their role in oral diseases: A review. Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology 2012 Journal; vol3(1)

5. Varun BR, Sivakumar TT, Bindu J Nair, Anna P Joseph. Bisphosphonate induced osteonecrosis of jaw in breast cancer patients: A systematic review. Journal of oral and maxillofacial pathology 2012;16(2)

6. Joseph AP, Harish R.K, Mohammed PK, Vinod KRB, How reliable is sex differentiation from teeth Measurements, Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology Journal 2013; Vol (1):289-292

7. Nair BJ, Vivek V, Sivakumar TT, Joseph AP, Varun BR, Mony V. Clear cell myoepithelioma of palate with emphasis on clinical and histological differential diagnosis. Clinics and Practice 2014;4:628

8. AG Deepa, Bindu J Nair, TT Sivakumar, Anna P Joseph. Uncommon opportunistic fungal infections of oral cavity: A review. Journal of oral and maxillofacial pathology, 2014, vol18,issue2,235-243

9. Sivakumar TT, Jeevadhas P, Raghavanpillai VB, Sivaraj S, Joseph AP, Denny SE. Recurrent osteosarcoma of maxilla presenting as fungating mass: A case report. Int J Case Rep Images 2016;7(3):149-153

10. Varun BR, Varghese NO, Sivakumar TT, Joseph AP. Extranodal Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma of the Oral Cavity: A case report. Iran J Med Sci.

11. Nikhil M kurien, LK surej kumar, PB Uma, V. Vivek, Anna P Joseph. An extensive swelling in the anterior mandible- a case report. Annals of medicine and surgery. 21(2017)30-33

12. Sivakumar T T, Joseph AP, Varun B R, Mony V. Post extraction foreign body reaction in mandibular third molar region: An uncommon presentation. J Oral Maxillofac Pathol 2017;21:439-41

13. T Sivakumar, Anna. P.Joseph, B.R Varun, Vinod Mony,,Bindu J Nair, LK Surej Kumar,Nikhil M Kurian: Oral mucormycosis in an immunocompetent patient; A Case Report and literature review; Oral And Maxillofacial Pathology Journal July-December2017;8(2);101-104

14. Trivandrum T. Sivakumar, Shali S. Nair, Geevar C. Zacharias, Madhu S. Nair, Anna P. Joseph. Identification of tongue print images for forensic science and biometric authentication. Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems 34 (2018) 1421–1426

15. Sivakumar TT, Sam N, Joseph AP. Prevalence of oral potentially malignant disorders and oral malignant lesions: A population-based study in a municipal town of southern Kerala. J Oral Maxillofac Pathol. 2018; 22(3):413–414. doi:10.4103/jomfp.JOMFP_202_17

16. Sivakumar, T.T., Muruppel, A.M., Joseph, A.P. et al.Photobiomodulatory effect delivered by low-level laser on dental pulp stem cell differentiation for osteogenic lineage. Laser Dent Sci 3, 175–181 (2019) doi:10.1007/s41547-019-00066-7

17. Santhu Sadasivan, T. T. Sivakumar, Anna P. Joseph, Geevar C. Zacharias and Madhu S. Nair, “Tongue Print Identification using Deep CNN for Forensic Analysis“. Journal of Intelligent and Fuzzy Systems 38(3):1-8 April 2020 DOI: 3233/JIFS-179722

18. Lekshmi MS, Sivakumar TT, Joseph AP,Varun BR, Mony V, Reshmi A, Sunjith S. Aquaporin: From a mere transporter to biomarker of oral cancer: A review. Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Journal.2020; 11(1):16-19

19. Lekshmy MS, Sivakumar TT, Joseph AP, Varun BR, Mony V, Reshmi A. Expression of transmembrane protein aquaporin-3 in oral epithelial dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2021;131(2):202-208. doi: 10.1016/j.oooo.2020.10.013

20. Selvaraj FM, Joseph AP, Varun BR, Mony V, Siva Kumar TT. Immunohistochemical evaluation of galectin-3 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma, oral leukoplakia and normal mucosa. Indian J Dent Res. 2022 Jul-Sep;33(3):282-286. doi: 10.4103/ijdr.ijdr_157_22. PMID: 36656189.

21. Benny B, Pillai VR, Joseph A, Pazhani J, Mony V. Oral Microbes Associated with Pulp and Periapical Infections. J Orofac Sci 2022;14:52-61.

22. Sam N, Trivandrum Thanappan S, Joseph AP, Baby Amma Raghavan Pillai V, Mony V. Histo-morphologic and gravimetric changes of teeth exposed to high temperatures – An in-vitro study. J Forensic Odontostomatol. 2022 Dec 30;40(3):52-61. PMID: 36623298; PMCID: PMC10266701.

23. Varun BR, Ramani P, Arya I, Palani J, Joseph AP. Epithelial–mesenchymal transition in cancer stem cells: Therapeutic implications. J Oral Maxillofac Pathol 2023;27:359-63.

24. Selvaraj FM, Joseph AP, Pillai VR, Ramani P, Pazhani J, Mony V. Significance of tumour budding and invasive characteristics in grading of oral squamous cell carcinoma. J Oral Maxillofac Pathol 2023;27:642-8

25. Greeshma LR, Joseph AP, Sivakumar TT, Raghavan Pillai V, Vijayakumar G. 2023. Correlation of PD-1 and PD-L1 expression in oral leukoplakia and oral squamous cell carcinoma: an immunohistochemical study. Sci Rep. 13(1):21698.

26. Freeda M. Selvaraj, Varun Raghavan Pillai, Anna P. Joseph, Pratibha Ramani, Jayanthi Pazhani, Vinod Mony. Assessment of Tumor Budding in different grades of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Journal of Orofacial Sciences. 2023

27. I A, Raghavan Pillai V B, Joseph A, et al. (February 27, 2024) Identification and Evaluation of Cancer Stem Cells in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Oral Epithelial Dysplasia Using NANOG: An Immunohistochemical Study. Cureus 16(2): e55111. DOI 10.7759/cureus.55111

28. John S, Joseph A P, Raghavan Pillai V B, et al. (March 17, 2024) Evaluation of Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes and Natural Killer Cell Distribution in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Oral Epithelial Dysplasia: An Immunohistochemical Study. Cureus 16(3): e56323. DOI 10.7759/cureus.56323

29. Surendran, L Surya; Joseph, Anna P.; Pillai, Varun B. Raghavan; Selvaraj, Freeda Mary. Characterisation of Macrophage Sub-populations in Oral Lichen Planus using CD64 and CD163 – An Evaluative Study. Indian Journal of Dental Research ():10.4103/ijdr.ijdr_458_24, June 27, 2025. | DOI: 10.4103/ijdr.ijdr_458_24

30. Surendran L, Surya; Joseph, Anna Palliath; Pillai, Varun B Raghavan; Somaraj, Vinej; Sudhakar, Sunjith; Mohan, Amitha. Prognostic Implications of Tumor-Associated Macrophages in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Orofacial Sciences 17(1):p 88-100, January-June 2025. | DOI: 10.4103/jofs.jofs_29_25

Awards & Other Achievements:

1. Speaker- Preconference Workshop On Lymphocyte Culture And Cytokinesis, XXVIII National Conference of IAOMP,Trivandrum

2. Microscope 2022, X annual Rapid Review- Resource person

3. Faculty For Rapid Review – Exam Focus 2023

4. Faculty (Key Note) At XX Annual State Conference & The X Post Graduate Convention Of The Kairali Society Of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathologists (Ksomp), 16th & 17th Of March 2024