University of Manitoba Dentistry: Virtual Research Office

History

Established in 1957, the Faculty of Dentistry is staffed by clinicians and basic biomedical scientists, many of whom are internationally recognized in their fields. The Faculty rates highly among Canadian Dental Schools for the quality of its research and its initiatives in research programming,  and opportunities for training experiences. Funding is consistently obtained for both basic and clinical research projects from local, and national granting agencies as well as from the private and industrial sectors.

Strategic Research
Preamble
The Faculty of Dentistry has initiated a number of substantive developments to support the research endeavor and to demonstrate our commitment to support research in the faculty.

• we have developed a strategic research plan to rebuild the oral microbiology/immunology area after the retirement of professors Hamilton, Bowden, and Dawes;


• we have completed renovations of the basement labs to support state-of-the-art oral microbiology/immunology research;


• we have initiated innovative oral-systemic research projects based on novel microbiological and immunological interventions;


• we are currently completing a search for two or more faculty members at the junior level to provide core expertise in microbiology/immunology around which further development can occur (CFI, CRC Chair);


• we have developed and have received approval for a DMD/PhD joint program (the only one in Canada) to develop dental clinician/scientists.


• having identified oral microbiology as a strategic direction, the Faculty of Dentistry intends to move forward in this area by applying for a Tier I CRC Chair around which the new oral microbiologists that we are in the process of hiring can develop as internationally recognized scientists. This Chair will provide the supporting core framework for these young scientists to establish their independent research careers.

Objectives and Priority Areas for Research & Research Training

Research in the Faculty of Dentistry is carried out over a broad spectrum in basic science and clinically-orientated projects, and joint basic/clinical approaches are encouraged wherever possible. The Faculty has defined four major priority areas of research development, based on existing expertise, potential funding opportunities and predicted national interest/emphasis.

These are:

• Oral-Systemic Health

Of the highest priority to the Faculty is the ongoing establishment and development of the International Center for Oral-Systemic Health (ICOSH). This Center is devoted to investigation of the connection, correlation and causative relations of oral health and systemic health. Consequently research collaborations in this area have involved, in addition to faculty members in Dentistry, the faculties of Medicine, Pharmacy and Human Ecology focusing on the oral systemic connections. In this area graduate students or students in our BSc(Dent) program are interacting in the research environment and the faculty laboratories as well as at other institutions. For example Oral Biology researchers are working to establish potential oral-systemic interactions using periodontal ligament cells and examining their ability to alter gene expression in cardiac myocytes with researchers at the St Boniface Cardiovascular Research Institute.

• Oral Health in the Aboriginal Population

The Faculty's Centre for Community Oral Health (CCOH) is the focal point for Aboriginal oral health studies, and holds funding from the Lawson Foundation for the  research component of its health care program.  CCOH is an essential instrument of the faculty and provides oral health care to a wide range of consumers including inner city residents, Aboriginal communities and at numerous rural Manitoba sites. These initiatives are largely funded by Federal and provincial Government contracts. As well there is a general interest in the faculty  to study oral and systemic health in the diabetic aboriginal population either in the clinical setting or as an adjunct to ongoing laboratory investigations of cytokines in gingival crevicular fluid.   This focus is underscored by the recent aboriginal workshop jointly hosted by the Faculty and Manitoba Institute of Child Health which brought participants from all across Canada. Other particular areas of focus in this regard include studies of early childhood caries and vitamin D levels in the white and aboriginal populations. Finally the Healthy Smile Happy Child project promotes early childhood oral health and has a focus on Aboriginal children.

• Microbiology and Oral  Biofilms

Work in microbiology on oral microbial biofilms explores the extensive relationships amongst oral bacterial species, their adhesion to teeth and soft tissues, their interactions to form complex biofilms and the role such biofilms play in oral and systemic health and disease.  As a priority area, the faculty has a long history as an outstanding centre for oral microbiology and indeed was the pre-eminent oral microbiology group in Canada. With the opportunity to redevelop this area due to several new hirings, the present proposal is of paramount importance in the establishment of a critical mass core around which this redevelopment can occur. The validity of this approach is underscored by the recent acquisition of a CFI by one of the new investigators which involves extensive renovations and acquisition of new equipment. Further CFI applications are anticipated as new faculty researchers are hired into the oral microbiology area. In addition collaborations are expected with the National Microbiology Laboratories which will further enhance the microbiological presence of the faculty on the national stage.

• Tobacco Use and Oral Health

Tobacco research covers the gamut from molecular studies on the effects of tobacco smoke and its isolated components and metabolites on leukocyte function and inflammation in the oral cavity and on lung disease, the immunological implications of nicotine use, the brain and neurological mechanisms involved in nicotine addiction and the development of clinical smoking cessation approaches. Collaborative efforts involve scientists in other faculties, clinicians in surgery who supply lung tumor samples, scientists at the Biodiagnostics NRC Institute as well as at the University of Louisville and St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Scientists and students in the Faculty of Dentistry are also involved at the international level with the International Society for the Preventation of Tobacco Induced Diseases (ISPTID) and indeed this society’s journal (BMC:Tobacco Induced Diseases) is edited and managed through the Faculty of Dentistry.

• Cell Signaling Mechanisms

Finally in one fashion or another most of the research laboratories in the Faculty are involved with intracellular signaling research to elucidate the manner in which external stimuli induce changes in cellular response, function and gene expression. From measuring cellular activation following exposure to nicotine in lung cells to examining intricate biochemical pathways during the process of platelet activation, many studies are underway.  Furthermore with the recent addition of clinical researchers, new studies concerning signaling during healing of gingival tissues and in oral neoplasms are underway. For example unique investigations into signaling by the cell surface receptors (GPCRs) and their accessory proteins (G-proteins) is being carried out by multiple laboratories. Within this area, the research program on decoding human taste signaling mechanisms through GPCRs at the molecular level, is unique in Canada.

These strategic directions identified by the Faculty are further supplemented by clinical-trials, funded by manufacturers of oral health care products. These cover comparative studies on the properties of different dental restorative materials; the design and placement of dental implants; and color matching in dental appliances. Recent research developments include studies on the detection of early dental caries by novel spectrographic techniques as well as antimicrobial approaches to prevention of periodontal disease.

Research Collaborations

Researchers in the Faculty collaborate extensively with other groups at the local, national and international levels. Close ties are maintained locally with the St. Boniface Research Centre, the National Research Council Biodiagnostics Institute, the Manitoba Institute for Cell Biology, and the Manitoba Institute for Child Health, among others, as well as with several departments within the University (Anatomy, Physiology, Pharmacology, Anesthesiology). Collaborative studies include work on platelet biology, cardiovascular research, respiration, and the oral and systemic effects of tobacco use. The Centre for Community Oral Health works closely with colleagues in Medicine on the delivery of oral health care to the Aboriginal population, from both therapeutic and sociological viewpoints.  Members of the School of Dental Hygiene collaborate with Education/PSS/UTS on education and teaching research.

At the national/international level, Faculty researchers collaborate with colleagues at several Canadian institutes, and at universities in the USA, UK, Sweden, China and Japan in studies in oral microbiology, saliva and cell signaling. Faculty members also act as consultants to government agencies in the UK and New Zealand. Exchange of visiting scientists is encouraged.

Research Facilities

The Faculty of Dentistry has well equipped laboratories for research in microbiology, physiology, biochemistry and cellular  biology. Additional specialized equipment is available for use in the adjacent Faculty of Medicine and associated research institutes. The renovations to the microbiological laboratories recently completed stands out with regard to the faculty’s commitment to this area of research. Faculty hires and revitalized settings for this research strongly underscore our direction to fully support this basic science area.  Indeed this is further supported by renewed excellent clinical facilities, recently updated, providing the opportunity for research and collaborative efforts between basic scientists and clinical investigators as well as  graduate students in orthodontics, periodontics and oral surgery. Hiring of new faculty in the clinical areas (predominantly Restorative Dentistry) also supports these research initiatives as virtually all hold PhDs in addition to their clinical qualifications.

International Development

International development is high in the Faculty's priorities. Research collaboration with international partners is encouraged.  The Faculty has signed agreements with a number of foreign Universities to formalize this relationship, and foster the interchange of ideas and personnel in both its teaching and research activities for mutual benefit. Partners include the Universities of Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Missouri (USA); Pretoria and Stellenbosch (South Africa); and Turku (Finland).  International development related to Canada-China agreements are also underway in the areas of neuroscience and, through potential new faculty members, microbiology with Northwest University, Xian, China. In addition our ongoing collaborations with the NRC Biodiagnostics Institute have fostered very active collaborative international efforts in the areas of  inflammatory periodontiitis and its diagnosis by optical spectroscopy. In this case dental clinicians in our faculty, working with scientists at NRC have developed multimodal (near and mid-infrared and ultrasonic) imaging with collaborators at First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University in China which handles 1.3 million outpatients a year. Further development of this non-invasive technology holds great potential for diagnosis and as a prognostic tool for inflammatory periodontal disease which has been linked to cardiovascular disease (see Strategic direction Oral-Systemic Health).

Graduate Training Opportunities

Clinical and basic science research programs provide graduate students with outstanding training opportunities in areas related to oral health. The Department of Oral Biology offers Ph.D. and M.Sc. programs, with emphasis on basic, laboratory-based research. The clinical departments run master's level programs, including a well-recognized M.Sc. degree program in orthodontics, and M. Dent. programs in periodontics and in oral and maxillofacial surgery. Student research in the Faculty is enhanced in a unique B.Sc. (Dental) summer  program, much like the B.Sc. (Med.) program, in  which  dentistry  undergraduates  carry  out basic/clinical/epidemiological research for two summer sessions and submit a brief thesis of their work for the bachelor's degree. The Faculty is currently planning to add two new graduate programs at the master's level, in pedodontics and prosthodontics.

Finally the Faculty of Dentistry has a demonstrated commitment to supplement the graduate level experience of our students through an annual Research Day in which students from all levels (BSc (Dent), MSc and PhD) present their research findings and interact with visiting internationally recognized scientists and scholars. This endeavor has been very successful and has been funded by a number of corporate sponsors while many of the students are funded by Manitoba Medical Service Foundation, Manitoba Institute of Child Health, Manitoba Dental Association and internal faculty monies.