The UConn School of Dental Medicine has reached a major milestone, proving its deep strength in research despite a difficult year for research programs.
For Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26), the School received its highest ever amount of new extramural research grant funding, totaling $17.75 million. This is more than twice the amount of research funding received in each of the previous three years, which was between $7.7 and $7.8 million per year.
“In a challenging year for research funding with overall NIH success rates below 20%, this accomplishment of a record amount of new research funding is especially remarkable,” says Rajesh V. Lalla, DDS, Ph.D., associate dean for research at the School of Dental Medicine. “This demonstrates the high quality of the work of our research community and the resilience of the strong research environment at our School and University”.
The number of new extramural grants received in FY26 is also the highest ever at 23 new grants. For the previous three fiscal years, the number of new extramural grants received ranged from 11 to 14 per year.
The School spent $10.23 million on research during FY26. This amount has typically averaged around $10 million per year for the last few years. With the significant increase in new awards for FY26, the School forecasts that the new funding will lead to increased research expenditures in future years.
Major research strengths at the UConn School of Dental Medicine include biomedical engineering, skeletal development and regeneration, and behavioral sciences. Additional active research areas include periodontal disease, oral microbiome, oral-systemic connections, temporomandibular joint disease, tooth movement, dental implants, diagnostic imaging, and oral side-effects of cancer therapies.
Researchers in the School received funding from several institutes at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army, as well as different private foundations, including those affiliated with dental specialty organizations. Despite its relatively small size, the school has consistently ranked in the top 15% of U.S. dental schools for total research funding from the NIH, including a number of years in the top 10 schools. The School has also had a several-fold increase in patent applications and start-up company formations in the last few years.
“This achievement is a reflection of the incredible talent of, and exceptional efforts by, our faculty,” says Dr. Steven Lepowsky, dean of the School of Dental Medicine.
With federal funding changes and delays, this has been a challenging time for research universities across the nation. Despite these circumstances, researchers at UConn have successfully adapted to disruptions in federal funding. According to the Office of the Vice President for Research, UConn totaled $318.3 million in new awards in FY26, up $4 million from the previous year, with $351.7 million in research expenditures during the fiscal year.
