Wednesday, July 2, 2025 7/2/2025

On Demand Removal of Oral Biofilms via Photresponsive Coatings

Award Number: K25DE027418
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DENTAL AND CRANIOFACIAL RESEARCH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: TRAINING/TRAINEESHIP
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/01/2018
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2024

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On Demand Removal of Oral Biofilms via Photresponsive Coatings - CANDIDATE: Devatha P. Nair, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor and a materials science researcher in the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. Nair’s K25 application proposes to engineer a photo-responsive coating that can enable ‘on-demand’ oral biofilm removal from the surface of a composite restorative material while maintaining the aesthetic and functional aspects of the underlying material. Her immediate goal is to acquire the research training and professional skills necessary to transition to an independent investigator. Her long-term goal is to develop an independent, extramurally funded research program by becoming a successful, effective tenure-track faculty who can fully engage with dental students and residents through teaching and research activities in the field of dental biomaterials. CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN: Dr. Nair’s career development training consists of: 1) acquiring new experimental skills and approaches to strengthen her research plan. 2) further training in culturing, analyzing and imaging oral biofilms in a variety of static and flow-through reactors. 3) refinement of professional skills development including formal course work, attendance and presentations at weekly journal clubs, university seminars, national scientific meetings, as well as regular meetings with Dental Biomaterials Journal club (weekly); Dept. of Immunology and Microbiology seminar series (Friday Seminar Series-weekly);and 4) through regular interactions with her mentoring team. ENVIRONMENT: The environment for Dr. Nair’s training plan will be outstanding. The principal mentor, Dr. Jeffrey Stansbury is an internationally recognized NIH-funded scientist. Along with co-mentor Dr. Schurr and secondary mentors, Drs. Pfeifer and Zajdowicz and consulting mentor Dr. Jack Ferracane, a strong, inter- disciplinary mentoring team in biomedical research has been assembled. Additionally, regular input from experts such as Dr. Michael Franklin (Center for Biofilm Engineering -Montana State University) and Dr. Noel Clark (Director, Soft Matter Materials Research Center at UC-Boulder) will ensure that Dr. Nair will have access to specific expertise in key areas of her research project and overall training plan. RESEARCH: There is a growing need to develop strategies to both understand and disrupt the growth and retention of dental biofilms that can cause secondary caries and a host of systemic diseases such as aspiration pneumonia, cardiovascular disease and complications during pregnancy. This proposal aims to develop strategies to combat biofilm growth and to prevent the progression of dental caries. Working on the premise that a long-term and effective solution towards the removal of oral biofilms relies on a dynamic, photo-responsive coating that can repeatedly and efficiently disrupt oral biofilm attachment, the proposal aims to develop photo- responsive coatings on the surface of restoratives that can repeatedly and reliably be called upon to physically disrupt and dislodge biofilms.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2025	2022	THE REGENTS OF THE UNIV. OF COLORADO	13001 E 17TH PL STE F428	AURORA	CO	80045	ADAMS	USA	Oral Diseases and Disorders Research	000	5	2/6/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $164,006 )
2022	2022	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	13001 E 17TH PLACE F428	AURORA	CO	80045	ADAMS	USA	Oral Diseases and Disorders Research	000	5	6/8/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$164,006
														Subtotal = $164,006

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $164,006 )
2021	2021	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	13001 E 17TH PLACE F428	AURORA	CO	80045	ADAMS	USA	Oral Diseases and Disorders Research	000	4	5/12/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$164,006
														Subtotal = $164,006

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $245,424 )
2020	2020	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	13001 E 17TH PLACE F428	AURORA	CO	80045	ADAMS	USA	Oral Diseases and Disorders Research	000	3	5/22/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$245,424
														Subtotal = $245,424

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $274,511 )
2019	2019	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	13001 E 17TH PLACE F428	AURORA	CO	80045	ADAMS	USA	Oral Diseases and Disorders Research	001	2	6/19/2019	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$245,424
2019	2019	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	13001 E 17TH PLACE F428	AURORA	CO	80045	ADAMS	USA	Oral Diseases and Disorders Research	000	1	2/25/2019	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$29,087
														Subtotal = $274,511

Issue Date FY: 2018 ( Subtotal = $164,006 )
2018	2018	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	13001 E 17TH PLACE F428	AURORA	CO	80045	ADAMS	USA	Oral Diseases and Disorders Research	000	1	6/22/2018	NEW	$164,006
														Subtotal = $164,006

Grand Total All Awards = $1,011,953

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On Demand Removal of Oral Biofilms via Photresponsive Coatings

Award Number: K25DE027418

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DENTAL AND CRANIOFACIAL RESEARCH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: TRAINING/TRAINEESHIP

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/01/2018

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2024

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