Colin Dawes In Memoriam: JDR Editor Emeritus and Pioneer in Salivary Research

Dr. Colin Dawes passed away on April 5, 2024, in Gimli, Manitoba, at age 88. He is survived by his wife Margaret and 5 children who live in Canada, the United States, and Australia. The summer cottage in Gimli eventually became their year-round home, where he enjoyed long lakeside walks along white sandy beaches and community dances with his wife. Colin was a loving and involved father and inspired many of his children to pursue academic careers. He even sparked an interest in saliva in his children. Like father, like daughter—both Colin’s daughter and her child competed in science fairs with projects on the effect of circadian rhythm on salivary flow.

Colin began his academic career as a PhD student at Newcastle University (1962) and then moved to Harvard for postdoctoral training (1962 to 1964). He took up his first and only faculty position in Winnipeg, Canada, at the University of Manitoba (Figure). He was an active clinician-scientist, working as a dentist in underserved communities in Northern Manitoba, teaching oral physiology to dental students and running his Medical Research Council of Canada–funded salivary research lab. One of the most life-changing moments for Colin came early in his career. Being unafraid of challenges, he volunteered to be a subject in a circadian rhythm study where he lived in a facility in Minneapolis without windows or clocks for 2 wk. It was during this time that he became fascinated with circadian rhythm of saliva (Dawes 1975). He also grew his famous beard, a signature mark, while in the experiment.

Figure.

Colin in his ground-floor office at the University of Manitoba, happily sitting at his tidy desk surrounded by his 1990s computer and many filing cabinets holding his manuscripts and research notes. The photo was taken after he taught Dr. Walter Siqueira how to collect parotid saliva using Dawes’s method with a constant salivary flow rate for a long period of stimulation.

Colin was a renown salivary researcher and made many fundamental discoveries that were predicated on his innovative method to collect unstimulated/stimulated saliva (Dawes and Wood 1973). This technique is the gold standard and has been critical in understanding the stress response of salivary glands under various conditions. Colin’s discoveries form the foundation of our current understanding of the complex nature of saliva. Colin’s groundbreaking research illuminated how variations in flow rates directly affected the composition of saliva and how salivary constituents affect everything from oral health to food digestion (Dawes 1970, 1975, 1983, 1987). He was responsible for generating the principal of “salivary clearance” (Dawes 1987). Oral homeostasis is maintained by clearing exogenous substances such as sugars and bacteria from the mouth, thus protecting against dental caries and other oral diseases (Dawes 1987). Colin was also one of the first to investigate the transient and elusive acquired enamel pellicle, a thin protein film that forms on the surface of teeth (Dawes 2008). The pellicle protects against demineralization while promoting remineralization. His research in this area has helped us understand how the acquired pellicle protects enamel from acidic attacks and is pivotal in the prevention of dental caries and dental erosion.

Beyond his seminal scientific achievements, Colin was an excellent professor and worked alongside some of the top oral biofilm microbiologists (George Bowden and Ian Hamilton). Colin was known for setting challenging and memorable essay questions for dental students. His devilishly difficult questions were relevant to our understanding of the oral environment. Colin was a very supportive research supervisor for DMD and graduate students. He formed close, personal bonds with many of his trainees. He frequently hosted his PhD students at his home in Winnipeg and at his cottage in Gimli. These international relationships lasted his whole life.

A major passion for Colin throughout his life was dental research. He was selected as editor in chief (EIC) of the Journal of Dental Research because of his strong research track record and excellent writing skills. Colin served as EIC between 1983 and 1993, during which he handled more than 3,500 manuscripts. This achievement is even more impressive when considering that there were no associate editors in those days. According to his daughter Susan, in addition to making decisions on the manuscripts, Colin was personally editing the English so that the meaning was crystal clear. He would often work late during the evenings, carefully making annotations in the margins of the printed manuscripts. It is hard to imagine editing a journal mainly without the use of personal computers. Colin possessed great wit and often tempered his criticisms with humor. After he completed his term as EIC, Colin continued to help many authors he had met over the years with their writing.

As we remember Dr. Dawes with this article, we not only celebrate his monumental scientific contributions to the field of salivary research but also his exceptional character and integrity. His legacy will continue to influence and inspire generations of salivary researchers and clinicians in the field of oral biology, salivary physiology, and beyond.

Author Contributions

J.M. Richman, W.L. Siqueira, contributed to conception and design, data analysis and interpretation, drafted and critically revised the manuscript. All authors gave their final approval and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work. The interview between JMR and Susan Dawes provided context for this article. We are grateful for her contribution.