In 2020, the University of Iowa was ranked 10th in the country for the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) funding, and 2nd in the Big 10, with over $6.4M in funds awarded.

Dr. Sukirth Ganesan, assistant professor in periodontics, and a team of researchers in the Carver College of Medicine were awarded a Carver Trust COVID-19 Pilot Collaborative Award. The grant, Unraveling the role of saliva in COVID- 19 pathogenesis using a comprehensive multi-omics approach, will involve a multi-arm, cross-sectional, case-control study with an integrated -omics approach to determine the microbial, metabolic, functional, and immune alterations in the saliva of COVID-19 patients.

Researchers at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry are working to make bone regeneration a reality through novel tissue engineering strategies and cutting-edge science. Hongli Sun is one of several faculty members at the college leading the charge to develop novel bone regeneration strategies for particular conditions and diseases.

Julie C Reynolds, Jill Boylston Herndon and Peter C Damiano, 2021

For the past six years, the Department of Prosthodontics has celebrated National Prosthodontics Awareness week by recruiting six low-income veterans to receive a free, complete set of dentures. To commemorate this annual event and in recognition of National Prosthodontics Awareness Week, Governor Kim Reynolds declared April 5-9 Iowa Prosthodontics Awareness Week.

Personalized medicine meets the unique needs of each patient, and Christopher Barwacz’s research is focused on improving and optimizing implant therapy to meet the specific needs of each individual patient.

Julie C Reynolds, Jill Boylston Herndon and Peter C Damiano, 2021

Although dentists often prioritize technical skill, patients generally aren’t able to evaluate differences in skill and they tend to care much more about how a dentist makes them feel. This central insight was one of fourth-year dental student Hannah Klaassen’s findings from her student research project, which she began four years ago and published in 2020 in the Journal of Dental Education.

Predictors of Multiple Job-Holding among Dental Hygienists in the State of Iowa, Journal of Dental Hygiene, 2021

As an expert in the genetics of embryonic development and an assistant professor in the Department of Periodontics, Eric Van Otterloo, has opened a new dimension for understanding craniofacial development, genetics, and bone formation as he and his team have explored a peculiar gene, Memo1.