October 15, 2001: Boston University School of Dental Medicine (BUSDM) today received a $10 million dollar award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish the Center for Research to Evaluate and Eliminate Oral Health Disparities.
The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) at the NIH announced that it is stepping up the effort to address disparities in our nation's health by funding five new centers for research to reduce oral health disparities. The centers, which are the first step in implementing the Institute's strategic plan for eradicating health disparities (http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/research/health_disp.asp), will identify factors contributing to oral health disparities and develop and test strategies for eliminating them. Each center also will provide training and career development opportunities for scientists in underrepresented groups and others interested in establishing careers in oral health disparities research.
BUSDM leads this effort in the Northeast Center for Research to Evaluate and Eliminate Oral Health Disparities, in partnership with The Forsyth Institute, Boston Medical Center, the Boston Public Health Commission, and Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC and Harvard University. Despite progress in reducing dental caries, tooth decay remains one of the most common diseases of childhood, particularly among poor children and children from minority racial and ethnic groups. The Northeast Center Center for Research to Evaluate and Eliminate Oral Health Disparities, headed by Dr. Raul Garcia at Boston University School of Dental Medicine, will focus on reducing early childhood caries.
"We will examine the effects of tooth decay on the quality of life of low-income African American, Asian, Hispanic, and white children, and also determine whether severe dental infections can slow growth," said Garcia. "We will also determine the best ways to involve pediatricians in improving children's oral health," he said.
The Northeast Center will also conduct studies of children and caregivers from various racial and ethnic groups to learn more about the oral microbes that trigger tooth decay and how they are transmitted.
In partnership with the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, NIDCR will provide approximately $7 million per year over a seven-year period to support the centers through cooperative agreements. The new centers--at Boston University, New York University, the University of California at San Francisco, the University of Michigan, and the University of Washington--will focus on a wide variety of populations at risk for oral health disparities. They will partner with other academic health centers, state and local health agencies, community and migrant health centers, and institutions that serve targeted patient populations.