Grants and Research
Research interests in the department involve curriculum development and professional education in tobacco cessation, epidemiology of oral diseases and issues in health policy development and access to care issues.
Recent Grant Programs
Pre-Doctoral Training in General, Pediatric, and Public Health Dentistry
The purpose of this grant is to develop and implement an inter-professional education partnership with UT Southwestern Medical School, Now-Forward (formerly North Dallas Shared Ministries), and Texas A&M College of Dentistry’s public health sciences and pediatric departments.
Post-Doctoral Training in General, Pediatric, and Public Health Dentistry
The creation of “health homes” focusing on the total needs of the patients and their families. The grant expanded clinical rotations to the dental college’s community-based training health centers. The changes affected didactic and clinical components of the curriculum by bridging the gap between medicine and dentistry.
Engaging Oral Health Providers for Evidence-Based Tobacco Cessation
The oral health workforce is underutilized for cancer prevention efforts, and many dental patients in Texas are not receiving tobacco cessation screening, referrals, or treatment. In response, this grant prioritizes serving low-income, uninsured, and otherwise underserved dental patients in three Texas counties: Dallas, Denton, and Potter. Train-the-trainer workshops will be held in Collin, Wichita, and Jefferson Counties as well.
Texas Recruits and Retains: A Dental Public Health Workforce Development Program
This grant addresses dental-health professional shortage areas (D-HPSA) in Texas through a collaborative team led by Texas A&M College of Dentistry, in partnership with the Texas Department of State Health Services, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston College of Dentistry, and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio College of Dentistry.