Australia's premier research center for all aspects of oral health will be established at the University of Adelaide thanks to a $2.4 million ($1.9 million U.S.) Australian federal government grant, university officials announced.
The new Centre of Clinical Research Excellence (CCRE) for Oral Health, which will be part of the university's School of Dentistry, is being funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
The CCRE Oral Health will be the first research center of its kind in Australia to focus on all aspects of oral health research and its relationship with the broader health problems that are made worse by poor oral health, the university said.
"Past research has focused on dental treatments to repair the damage caused by decay and periodontal disease, as well as the prevention of such diseases," said Mark Bartold, co-director of the CCRE, in a press release. "But there has been a lack of research on the role of dental health in people's overall well-being. A key focus for this new center will be to investigate the interaction between systemic health and oral disease."
Other key research areas for the CCRE will include:
- Parental guidance and long-term oral health
- Improving dental treatment in Aboriginal children
- Genetic factors in dental development disorders
- Predicting and reducing mucosal toxicity during chemotherapy
- Use of stem cells in periodontal regeneration
The CCRE will also have major benefits for students and early career researchers, Bartold noted.
"With this new center, we now have the opportunity to engage more Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows in our work. This will be significant both in terms of postgraduate training as well as significantly increasing our research output," he said.
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