NYU College of Dentistry Establishes Center for Skeletal and Craniofacial Biology

The Center for Skeletal and Craniofacial Biology has been established at the New York University College of Dentistry with funding from a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant. The center is led by Dr. Nicola Partridge, an authority on molecular endocrinology and bone and mineral research.

According to Dr. Partridge, the mission of the center is to raise the tempo of research into diseases affecting craniofacial development and bone — including cleft palate and bone loss related to osteoporosis, kidney failure, cancer metastasis, and periodontal disease. The center’s research is expected to lead to new knowledge about and new and improved treatments for these and other conditions, and to be a magnet for outside academics and postdoctoral fellows to undertake research, thereby increasing NYU’s stature in the field.

The center’s goals are to recruit new faculty in craniofacial bone biology, as well as collaborators from other NYU schools, to perform such research and synergize their activities, publish high impact papers, submit NIH instrumentation grants for the center, oversee the use of core facilities, increase the funding of center members, submit NIH PPG (program project grants) and center applications, and engage members in clinical trials and obtain patents and patent income.

In 2010, when the NIH announced a new, more competitive review process for applications, the message to researchers across the country was that if you want an NIH grant, you must prove to us that your research will exert a sustained and powerful influence in your field.

“The NIH used to evaluate research proposals on the basis of how well a study was designed and whether previously published data supported the need for additional research,” explained Dr. Partridge. “The changes that were announced in 2010 put the burden on scientists to show how likely it is that their research will have a major scientific impact. In addition, the NIH reduced the share of funding for basic science, allocated more money to clinical and translational studies, and put greater emphasis on funding multidisciplinary studies.”

For more information: please log oonto our website at: http://www.nyu.edu/dental/.

About New York University College of Dentistry
Founded in 1865, New York University College of Dentistry (NYUCD) is the third oldest and the largest dental school in the US, educating more than 8 percent of all dentists. NYUCD has a significant global reach and provides a level of national and international diversity among its students that is unmatched by any other dental school.

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