{"id":127120,"date":"2017-06-22T12:17:57","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T16:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?post_type=school-college-post&#038;p=127120"},"modified":"2019-01-28T16:51:59","modified_gmt":"2019-01-28T21:51:59","slug":"uconn-dental-grants-show-collaborative-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2017\/06\/uconn-dental-grants-show-collaborative-nature\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Dental Grants Show Collaborative Nature"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The UConn School of Dental Medicine\u2019s research portfolio goes well beyond teeth.<\/p>\n<p>An analysis of grants from fiscal 2016, the most recent period of available figures, shows more than half the nearly $9 million in grants to UConn dental faculty was to study behavioral sciences and community health or regenerative medicine and skeletal development.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur research in the dental school is not just dental research,\u201d says <a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Lalla-Rajesh\">Dr. Rajesh Lalla<\/a>, the UConn School of Dental Medicine\u2019s associate dean for research. \u201cWe consider all research to be valuable, all new information to be valuable, and we value all kinds of research in the dental school.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_127127\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-127127\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-127127 img-responsive lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/dental-grant-pie-chart-2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/dental-grant-pie-chart-2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/dental-grant-pie-chart-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/dental-grant-pie-chart-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/dental-grant-pie-chart-2-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/dental-grant-pie-chart-2-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/dental-grant-pie-chart-2.jpg 1200w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 640px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 640\/427;\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-127127\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Laura Didden, UConn School of Dental Medicine)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For example, <a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Wagner-Julie\">Julie Wagner<\/a>, professor of behavioral sciences and community health, is a clinical health psychologist who studies diabetes. The National Institutes of Health awarded her more than $3 million over five years, and she received a three-year grant of $540,000 from the American Diabetes Association.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Litt-Mark\">Mark Litt<\/a>, a professor of behavioral sciences and community health who studies addiction, has two NIH grants totaling almost $5.8 million over five years.<\/p>\n<p>The $3.5 million awarded in fiscal 2016 for behavioral sciences and community health research represents almost 40 percent of the grant funding awarded to the dental school during that period. Concurrently, more than $2.5 million, nearly 30 percent, was brought in by faculty studying regenerative medicine and skeletal development, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/regenerativemedicine.uchc.edu\/faculty\/bios\/rowe.html\"> David Rowe<\/a>, director, Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development, who has two NIH grants totaling more than $4.8 million over five years,<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Kuhn-Liisa\">Liisa Kuhn<\/a>, associate professor of biomedical engineering, who has a $1.9 million NIH grant over five years,<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/regenerativemedicine.uchc.edu\/faculty\/bios\/dealy.html\">Caroline Dealy<\/a>, associate professor in the Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development, who has a nearly $320,000 grant from the Department of Defense over two years, and<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/regenerativemedicine.uchc.edu\/faculty\/bios\/kalajzic.html\">Ivo Kalajzic<\/a>, associate professor in the Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development, who has three NIH grants totaling $2.2 million over five years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Many of these grants involve collaborations with researchers in other departments and institutions. It\u2019s indicative of a larger trend in the competitive world of federal grant application.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_126906\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-126906\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-126906 img-responsive lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/YadavSumit_Orthodontics_Asst_Prof_Clinical_5-23-17_JGelineau_6652-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/YadavSumit_Orthodontics_Asst_Prof_Clinical_5-23-17_JGelineau_6652-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/YadavSumit_Orthodontics_Asst_Prof_Clinical_5-23-17_JGelineau_6652-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/YadavSumit_Orthodontics_Asst_Prof_Clinical_5-23-17_JGelineau_6652-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/YadavSumit_Orthodontics_Asst_Prof_Clinical_5-23-17_JGelineau_6652-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/YadavSumit_Orthodontics_Asst_Prof_Clinical_5-23-17_JGelineau_6652-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/YadavSumit_Orthodontics_Asst_Prof_Clinical_5-23-17_JGelineau_6652.jpg 1200w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-126906\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sumit Yadav, assistant professor of orthodontics, has a K08 career development grant from the NIH. (Photo by Janine Gelineau)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIn the past, people used to be able to kind of work alone and get grants, and nowadays grant reviewers almost expect you to be collaborating with various people,\u201d Lalla says. \u201cA lot of times the greatest advances are coming from interactions between people representing different disciplines at the cutting edge. It\u2019s where the new insights or greatest advances are coming. It\u2019s just the way that science is moving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The collaborative nature of the faculty, including dental, medical and others at the Storrs campus, is what puts the University in a favorable position, says <a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=MacNeil-Monty\">Dr. Monty MacNeil<\/a>, dean of the UConn School of Dental Medicine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re moving more and more to team-based science,\u201d MacNeil says. \u201cTypically it\u2019s not one PI \u00a0anymore. It\u2019s a group of people and the diversity of its members make grant applications stronger. We are fortunate to have a collaborative group of faculty who create synergy in their science and in their grant applications.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More than one third of fiscal 2016 funding came by way of grants from the NIH\u2019s National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, putting the UConn School of Dental Medicine at No. 14 among U.S. dental institutions in terms of amounts awarded by the NIDCR. Over the last 10 years, UConn\u2019s average rank for NIDCR funding has hovered around 18th among the nation\u2019s 65 dental schools.<\/p>\n<p>That funding includes a research-focused training grant known as a T90, \u201can institutional grant that funds graduate research and training and that significantly augments and strengthens the research conducted by faculty within our school,\u201d as MacNeil describes it.<\/p>\n<p>Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows benefit from the T90 grant as they pursue the early phase of their academic research careers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot only are we doing research, but we\u2019re also helping train the next generation of researchers,\u201d Lalla says. \u201cWe may be one of 10 or so dental institutions that has these training grants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MacNeil expects UConn\u2019s new Biomedical Engineering Department, a collaboration of the UConn Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, and Engineering, will further elevate the University\u2019s research funding profile. He says the first five recruits will be \u201cresearch-intensive\u201d and appointed within the dental school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UConn School of Dental Medicine faculty members work collaboratively to create a diverse research portfolio that goes well beyond teeth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":126905,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2166],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2010],"class_list":["post-127120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sdm"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-09 00:37:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/126905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127120"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=127120"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=127120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}