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Dentistry research gains momentum
The School of Dentistry has spent the last decade building a strong research portfolio that is core to moving oral health research forward while enhancing access to care.
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The school has increased its number of graduate students, established core research units and increased grant funding by building a strong academic knowledge base that has expanded its footprint directly in our community.
“Existing and new faculty are expanding their research portfolio and changing the culture of research in our school,” says Maryam Amin, professor and associate chair of research at the School of Dentistry. “Over the last 10 years, our research has gained attention on the national and international stage. We are seeing a huge increase in the quality and quantity of graduate student applications, which shows that we are standing out against other universities.”
Research Units
The school has established three distinct research units – Educational Research & Scholarship Unit (ERSU), Biomedical Oral & Maxillofacial Research Unit (BOMRU) and the Applied Oral Health Research Unit (AOHRU).
Each of these units and the expert researchers within these units focus on advancing oral health knowledge and care in clinical treatment, oral healthrelated diseases and the delivery of dental education. Research is being conducted in the areas of craniofacial development, oral cancer, inflammatory conditions, COVID-19, immunology, dental materials, biomechanics, clinical research, population- and community-based research, and fosters educational research scholarship.
“Establishing these research units promotes collaboration,” says Amin, adding it creates a community of exchanging research expertise and ideas. “The units help bring all the people in the same area of interest together, making everyone aware of what they are investigating and most often, raising opportunities of collaboration and mentorship. For junior faculty, the units allow for shared resources, which is very important.”
Endowed Chairs
With the support of the Alberta Dental Association & College (ADA&C), the school created two endowed chairs in oral health and dental research. With a joint commitment to generation, translation and utilization of research, these endowed chairs will lead to advancing the dental profession and acquisition of new knowledge in the prevention and treatment of oral diseases.
Dentistry research will lead to increased knowledge in the areas of treatment and dental care delivery. The impact of this research will contribute to cost containments, improved quality of care as well as an understanding of barriers to access to care.
Daniel Graf, associate professor in the Division of Foundational Sciences, holds the ADA& C Oral Health Research Endowed Chair and Maryam Amin, professor in the division of pediatric dentistry, holds the ADA&C Dental Research Endowed Chair. The establishment of the research endowed chairs is one of the ways the School of Dentistry is able to achieve and further its academic mission, develop new research initiatives and opportunities for the achievement of excellence nationally and internationally.
Research funds
Several of our faculty members hold long term Tri-Council Grants including CIHR Foundation Scheme Grants and NSERC Discovery grants. In addition, our faculty have been co-investigators on a number of Tri-Council grants and other 18 external grants since 2018.
From 2016 to 2020, the school has raised a total of approximately $12.7M with $3.9M raised towards research and innovation. The school has 16 endowment funds and resources supporting research projects and students including the Fund for Dentistry, Sperber Fund, School of Dentistry Education Research Fund, Oral Health Community Engagement Fund, and Dental Hygiene Graduate Research Fund.
“Our increase in external and internal funding over the last decade shows our school is being recognized for its leading role in conducting quality and impactful research,” says Amin. “Our increase in endowment funding shows our community and alumni support our research. This endowment gives new investigators the chance to build a research program and bridge funding. Our alumni support reiterates that alumni recognize the school as a centre for conducting oral health research and that
they support it.”
Graduate Program
The graduate program has seen significant growth over the last 10 years. Not only has student enrollment increased to 55 students, but with the addition of new graduate studies options, the research program is attracting students from all over.
In 2014, building on TMD/Orofacial Pain options, the school began offering the Oral Medicine Graduate Program. Graduate students focus on treating oral diseases, orofacial pain, and the planning of dental care treatment for medically complex patients.
Followed by graduate programs in dental hygiene and periodontology – the school has positioned itself to be competitive in attracting and retaining students and researchers.
The impact graduate program research is having can be witnessed in the community. A community-based project involving graduates, dental hygiene and dentistry students resulted in development of an Oral Health Education Tool.
This tool was created to address the oral health literacy need of recent immigrants. The collaboration with community partners led to the development of a series of oral health educational tools to improve parental knowledge about oral health of young children and how to take care of their teeth with respect to diet, oral hygiene, and visiting the dentist.
ADA&C endowed chairs
“This is a free educational tool created for young parents. Having this tool builds capacity and raises awareness in the community on the importance of young children’s oral health,” says Amin. “This is an example of the final outcome of a research project that is being used by public today.”
Undergraduate summer research programs
Another exciting program that is exposing DDS and DH students to research is our Summer Research Program. This program specifically allows dentistry and dental hygiene students to participate in the process of discovery and its application to evidence-informed decision making.
Students work with faculty mentors and have the opportunity to conduct a well-defined project with goals, objectives and use scientific methods to generate new knowledge. Students will then present their research project during regularly scheduled Discovery Dental Sciences Seminar Series. Some selected projects are also presented at the national and international conferences.
“The school is building a research portfolio that could lead to changes in policy and practice guidelines making the impact of our research multi-fold,” says Amin. “My vision is to build bridges and facilitate collaboration amongst the different disciplines to continually create impactful outcomes for our research that have immediate tangible benefits for people.” The ADA&C Oral Health Research Endowed Chair is Dr. Daniel Graf. He is an internationally recognized immunologist, developmental biologist, geneticist, and hard tissue specialist. Dr. Graf’s research contributions thus far have contributed to a better understanding of the etiology of developmental malformations of the craniofacial complex. He has established numerous collaborations within the school and faculty to translate findings from his research to the clinic. He has been recognized for his outstanding student mentorship and is a strong contributor to the teaching programs at the school. Through these engagements, he promotes the development of faculty and students in dental research and attracts undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty interested in dental research to the school.
The ADA&C Dental Research Endowed Chair is Dr. Maryam Amin and she will lead the development of a worldclass dentistry research program at the school with a focus on active engagement of foundational sciences in the clinical dentistry and bridging the gap between bench discoveries and clinical projects through developing innovative dynamic multidisciplinary research teams including basic scientists, clinicians, biostatisticians or epidemiologists and other stakeholders involving the delivery of care and policymaking. This will include identifying the selected areas for research based on the existing infrastructure and interest at the School of Dentistry and developing a road map and strategic plan for interdisciplinary and collaborative research across disciplines within the university and faculty. SPRING 2021 9
