UF College of Dentistry ranks No. 5 in NIH research funding

The UF College of Dentistry research enterprise ranks fifth nationally for a second straight year among all U.S. dental schools in National Institutes of Health funding, with $11.2 million awarded through the 2018 fiscal year.

The Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research rankings include award data from all NIH institutes. The college ranks fourth among public institutions and has been ranked in the Top 10 among dental schools in NIH funding since 2006.

“Understanding the underlying causes and effects of oral diseases and finding better ways to predict, prevent and manage them is really what drives the research enterprise at our college,” said A. Isabel Garcia, D.D.S., M.P.H, dean of the college. “We’re proud of our ranking because it signifies the commitment and tremendous talent of our faculty and our hope that our science will contribute to a better future for everyone.”

Under the leadership of Robert A. Burne, Ph.D., associate dean for research and the Louis and Marge Atkins Endowed Professor, the college is nationally recognized for its oral health research enterprise, emphasizing oral infectious diseases and immunology, the intimate linkage between oral health and overall health, pain and neurosciences, biomaterials, and clinical/translational research to improve oral health care and patient outcomes.

The college receives an average of $15 million in sponsored funding each year. Approximately 93% of UFCD-sponsored funding derives from external sources, and of that external funding, 87% comes from federal sponsors, including the NIH, the Health Resources and Services Administration and the U.S. Department of Defense.

Last fiscal year, the college received more than $15 million total from all sources in contracts and grants to seven departments, including community dentistry and behavioral science, oral biology, orthodontics, oral and maxillofacial diagnostic sciences, oral and maxillofacial surgery, periodontology, and restorative dental sciences.

The college is home to eight centers: the Dental Clinical Research Unit, the Center for Dental Biomaterials, the Center for Implant Dentistry, the Center for Molecular Microbiology, the Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence, the Center for Orphaned Autoimmune Disorders, the Claude Denson Pepper Center for Oral Health in Aging and the Southeast Center for Research to Reduce Disparities in Oral Health.

The department of oral biology is one of the top-ranked in the U.S. based on NIH research funding among similar departments and includes national leaders in oral infectious diseases and immunology research. In March 2018, UFCD’s Comprehensive Training Program in Oral Biology (T90/R90) was selected for a national excellence award by the American Dental Education Association — the William J. Gies Awards for Vision, Innovation and Achievement. The Gies Awards honor individuals and organizations that exemplify the highest standards in oral health and dental education, research and leadership.

2018 Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research rankings | NIH funding | Top 10 dental schools

1. University of California, San Francisco, $24.4 million

2. University of Michigan, $21.6 million

3. University of Pennsylvania, $12.7 million

4. University of Alabama at Birmingham, $11.6 million

5. University of Florida, $11.2 million

6. New York University, $9.3 million

7. University of California, Los Angeles, $8.9 million

8. University of Southern California, $7.9 million

9. University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh, $7.9 million

10. University of Maryland Baltimore, $7.1 million