by Marc Fredson
Discovery is one of the five strategic focus areas of our five-year strategic plan.
Our vision is to be a world leader in scientific discovery and its translation into improved patient care and public health.
Over the next five years, the UCSF School of Dentistry will build on its strength as an established global leader in oral health research.
By promoting interdisciplinary research collaboration within our school, within UCSF and with our external partners, we are identifying novel opportunities to improve human health within our community, nationally and worldwide.
A recent example is a pilot project program developed by Tom Lang, associate dean for research. The program leverages UCSF’s Resource Allocation Program (RAP) grant mechanism and funds two seed grants and a team science award. The seed grants will fund School of Dentistry principal investigators to carry out pilot projects generating preliminary data for NIH R01 grant applications. The team science award will fund cross-disciplinary teams of School of Dentistry investigators working with researchers from other UCSF schools to carry out preliminary research in support of large programmatic research proposals.
Our research focus areas are:
- Focus our scientific discovery in key areas of high relevance to oral health and dental practice, including cancer, craniofacial biology, biomaterials and bioengineering, tissue regeneration, precision oral health/personalized dentistry with an emphasis on dental caries, and global oral health and health disparities.
- Provide an outstanding research and discovery infrastructure.
- Increase research efficiency by leveraging universitywide resources, including CTSI and the research cores.
- Enhance funding of our discovery efforts through schoolwide mentoring for grant submissions and pilot projects to encourage collaboration for new research directions.
- Broaden the public impact of our work through technology transfer and industry collaboration.
- Advance health worldwide and reduce health disparities by identifying, creating and sustaining research collaborations with community partners on the local, regional, national and international levels.
In executing the above, we will increase our recognition as a research center of excellence and a hub for discussions on global health.
As always, we will encourage and reward individual creativity and achievement while recognizing that individual success is fostered by the success of our community as a whole.
Look for more information about our strategic plan next month, when we will discuss the importance of our people.