Dr Josefine Hirschfeld Dr. med. dent, FDS(Rest Dent)RCPS, FHEA

Dr Josefine Hirschfeld

School of Dentistry
Associate Professor & Honorary Consultant in Restorative Dentistry
Research Lead for Dentistry

Contact details

Email
j.hirschfeld@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@josefin66721629
View my research portal
Address
The School of Dentistry
5 Mill Pool Way
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B5 7EG
United Kingdom

Josefine Hirschfeld is an Honorary Consultant in Restorative Dentistry and delivers clinical care to patients with complex needs in this field. Because of her research, she has a special interest in periodontology, a discipline concerned with diseases of the gums.

Josefine forms part of the Periodontal Research Group at the School of Dentistry. She supervises PhD students conducting research in the fields of oral and systemic immunology and oral microbiology, focussing on the causes and possible new treatments for periodontitis.

She is particularly interested in neutrophils, a key immune cell, and their interactions with microorganisms and other host cells. She also investigates these cells’ role in diseases like Covid-19 and Epidermolysis Bullosa.

Josefine also teaches dentistry to under- and postgraduate students of all 5 years of the BDS programme and beyond, and is responsible for personal academic tutoring within the School of Dentistry.

Qualifications

  • PD (University of Bonn, Germany)
  • ISFE and CCST in Restorative Dentistry
  • PGCHE
  • Doctor medicinae dentariae, University of Würzburg, Germany
  • State Examination in Dentistry, University of Würzburg, Germany

Teaching

  • Clinical and academic teaching of BDS students in subdisciplines of Restorative Dentistry, particularly Periodontology Specialty Teaching
  • Personal Tutoring of 1st – 5th year BDS students

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Almaarik, BM, Ali, R, Cooper, PR, Milward, MR & Hirschfeld, J 2025, 'Bidirectional effects of neutrophils on Streptococcus oralis biofilms in vitro', Journal of Oral Microbiology, vol. 17, no. 1, 2453986. https://doi.org/10.1080/20002297.2025.2453986

Balacco, D, Bardhan, A, Ibrahim, H, Kuehne, S, Grant, M, Hirschfeld, J, Heagerty, A & Chapple, I 2025, 'Optimisation of cutaneous microbiota sampling methodology', Frontiers In Microbiomes, vol. 4, 1559981. https://doi.org/10.3389/frmbi.2025.1559981

Chen, JH, Raman, V, Kuehne, SA, Camilleri, J & Hirschfeld, J 2024, 'Chemical, antibacterial and cytotoxic properties of four different endodontic sealer leachates over time', Journal of Endodontics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joen.2024.08.015

Muchová, M, Kuehne, S, Grant, M, Chapple, I & Hirschfeld, J 2024, 'Fusobacterium nucleatum elicits subspecies-specific responses in human neutrophils', Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, vol. 14, 1449539. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2024.1449539

Smith, P, Chicca, I, Heaney, J, Muchová, M, Khanim, F, Shields, A, Drayson, M, Chapple, I & Hirschfeld, J 2024, 'Paracetamol suppresses neutrophilic oxygen radicals through competitive inhibition and scavenging', Chemico-Biological Interactions, vol. 404, 111283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbi.2024.111283

Muchová, M, Balacco, D, Grant, M, Chapple, I, Kuehne, S & Hirschfeld, J 2022, 'Fusobacterium nucleatum subspecies differ in biofilm forming ability in vitro', Frontiers in Oral Health, vol. 3, 853618. https://doi.org/10.3389/froh.2022.853618

Kelk, P, Moghbel, NS, Hirschfeld, J & Johansson, A 2022, 'Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin activates the NLRP3 inflammasome and cell-to-cell communication', Pathogens, vol. 11, no. 2, 159. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11020159

Thandi, BS, Ip, H & Hirschfeld, J 2022, 'Multiple external root resorptions in a patient with Stage IV, Grade C periodontitis and autoimmune diseases: A case report', Clinical advances in periodontics, pp. 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1002/cap.10232

Raindi, D, Rees, J, Hirschfeld, J, Wright, H, Dobbs, P, Moittie, S, White, K, Stahl, W, Martin, M, Redrobe, S, Hughes, F, Liptovszky, M, Baiker, K & Grant, M 2022, 'Periodontal health, neutrophil activity and cardiovascular health in captive chimpanzees', Archives of Oral Biology, vol. 134, 105342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2021.105342

Chapter

Hirschfeld, J, Chicca, I, Moonen, CGJ, White, P, Ling, M, Wright, H, Cooper, PR, Milward, M & Chapple, I 2022, Characterization, Quantification, and Visualization of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps. in Oral Biology: Molecular Techniques and Applications. 3 edn, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2588, Springer, pp. 451–472. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2780-8_27

Hirschfeld, J, Chicca, IJ, Moonen, CGJ, White, PC, Ling, MR, Wright, HJ, Cooper, PR, Milward, MR & Chapple, ILC 2022, Correction to: Characterization, Quantification, and Visualization of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps. in GJ Seymour, MP Cullinan, NCK Heng & PR Cooper (eds), Oral Biology: Molecular Techniques and Applications. 3 edn, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2588, Humana Press, New York, pp. C1-C1. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2780-8_32

Abstract

Keshavarz, S, Hirschfeld, J & Grant, M 2025, 'P41 Combating periodontal disease: chitosan-FK13a1 microparticles as a promising antibiotic alternative', JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance, vol. 7, no. Supplement_4, dlaf230.048, pp. iv19. https://doi.org/10.1093/jacamr/dlaf230.048

Review article

Chapple, ILC, Hirschfeld, J, Cockwell, P, Dietrich, T & Sharma, P 2024, 'Interplay between periodontitis and chronic kidney disease', Nature Reviews. Nephrology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-024-00910-5

Nagi, M, Chapple, ILC, Sharma, P, Kuehne, SA & Hirschfeld, J 2023, 'Quorum Sensing in Oral Biofilms: Influence on Host Cells', Microorganisms, vol. 11, no. 7, 1688. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11071688

Chapple, I, Hirschfeld, J, Kantarci, A, Wilensky, A & Shapira, L 2023, 'The role of the host: neutrophil biology', Periodontology 2000. https://doi.org/10.1111/prd.12490

View all publications in research portal