Development of Opportunities for Research (DOOR) in Dental Schools: Future Academic Interdisciplinary Workforce and Collaborators for the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN) - The University of Florida (UF) College of Dentistry and East Carolina University (ECU) School of Dental Medicine are collaborating to establish an academic multidisciplinary practice-based research network within and between their respective dental schools to provide clinical faculty, residents, and predoctoral students with a competency-based training program for skills development, research mentorship, and participation in practice-oriented clinical research. The partnership addresses NIDCR’s opportunity for Practice-Based Research Integrating Multidisciplinary Experiences in Dental Schools (PRIMED). There is a need in dental education to promote research skill training and experiences, at both the pre- and post-doctoral levels, and to integrate these processes with interprofessional education and transdisciplinary research. This proposal is designed to foster environmental change to embrace research as a critical component of both dental education and dental practice. The proposed project outlines the Development of Opportunities for Research (DOOR): Future Academic Interdisciplinary Workforce and Collaborators for the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN). Along with clinical research skills development and mentoring, included are two clinical research studies with common databases across the two schools, to involve dental students, residents, clinical faculty, and research-intensive faculty. The studies will be focused on diabetes detection chairside (Advancing Pre-diabetes/Periodontal Research in Oral Academic Clinical Healthcare; APPROACH) or pain conditions affecting dental treatment (Chronic Overlapping Pain Evaluation Study; COPES). This project will leverage the resources of UF as a research-intensive dental school (#5 in NIDCR funding) to promote a pipeline of dental students and residents at both UF and ECU who are engaged with clinical research. As a newer dental school, ECU (#47 in NIDCR funding) will advance its research activities and lend its resources, adding to the generalizability in this initiative given the different settings and approaches to dental education. For both institutions, the resources of the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute will be harnessed for research training and implementation, also relying on UF’s experience with the Dental Practice Based Research Network. Additionally, the Dental Clinical Research Unit at UF will be used as a resource, as will the UF Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence.
