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Tuesday 14 September 2021 2:13pm

The New Zealand Dental Association and Ministry of Health (MoH) are key supporters of our cutting-edge dental and oral health research, through the NZ Dental Research Foundation (NZDRF) and MoH Oral Health Research funding rounds.

In the 2021 NZDRF funding round, a total of $131,240 in funding has been awarded for research projects led by our staff, PhD and DClinDent students. SJWRI researchers are also lead or key named investigators on projects awarded $61,537 in targeted Ministry of Health Oral Health Research funding.

As always, we thank the NZ Dental Research Foundation and the Ministry of Health for their continued support.

New Zealand Dental Research Foundation

Established in 1964 by the NZ Dental Association, the NZ Dental Research Foundation awards grants for research projects related to dentistry. Its overall purpose is to "promote, foster and extend the study and practice of the art and science of dentistry in New Zealand". Since its inception, the Foundation has provided financial support for decades of dental and oral health research projects within the Dental School and the SJWRI, to help extend the boundaries of dental knowledge and to promote the fostering and extension of the study and practice of the art and science of dentistry in New Zealand. The Research Foundation is funded by donations from dental practitioners, the dental supply industry and other businesses, as well as proceeds from the annual NZDA Conference and other fundraising activities. The SJWRI and the Faculty are hugely grateful for the role and contribution of the NZDRF, the NZDA and its membership, in supporting our research over the past five decades, in the process helping many of our Masters, PhD and specialising dental postgraduate students complete their studies.

In the 2021 NZ Dental Research Foundation grant round, projects led by SJWRI researchers have been awarded a total of $131,240 in funding, including $9,668 from the Continuing Dental Education Trust of Auckland.

Lead investigator Other named investigators Project title Awarded
A/Prof Dawn Coates

Dina Abdelmoneim, Prof Warwick Duncan, Dr Gemma Porter (Harvard), Dr Khoon Lim (CReaTE Group, UOC)

Antibacterial GelMA constructs containing alpha lipoic acid-capped silver nanoparticles for bone tissue regeneration $14,899
A/Prof Dawn Coates Christina Gee, Prof Warwick Duncan, Dr Khoon Lim (UOC), Prof Jillian Cornish (UoAuckland) Development of a lactoferrin hydrolysable gel system for bone regeneration $14,597
A/Prof Manikandan Ekambaram Dr Kai Chun Li, Dr Lei (May) Mei, Yipeng Fu The effect of dentifrices with different active ingredients on enamel regenerative potential of self-assembling peptide P₁₁-4 $15,000
A/Prof Lara Friedlander Howard Chao, Dr Trudy Milne, Prof Paul Cooper, Dr Peter Cathro Diabetes and Endodontics - Unravelling the potential for calcification within the pulp $13,032
Dr Finn Gilroy A/Prof Haizal Hussaini, Prof Paul Cooper, A/Prof Lara Friedlander Quantification and characterisation of dental pulp inflammatory markers for development of a clinical decision-making tool: A pilot study $14,842
Dr Kai Chun Li Elisa Gaoyang Li, Prof Neil Waddell, Dr Abdullah Barazanchi Developing and validating a finite element model for all-ceramic monolithic zirconia crown material using Coulomb-Mohr and von Mises yield criterion $15,000
A/Prof Sunyoung Ma Ai Lin Tee, Dr Joanne Choi, Suzanne Hanlin An in vitro study of the effect of various titanium surface treatments and thermocycling and on the retention of zirconia implant crowns on prefabricated titanium bases $15,000
Dr Getulio Nogueira A/Prof Dawn Coates, Prof Warwick Duncan Cytokine modulation in response to Nisin Z lantibiotic with application in periodontal inflammation: a proof of concept study $14,302
Dr Don Schwass Prof Paul Brunton, A/Prof Geoff Tompkins, A/Prof Carla Meledandri (Chemistry), Minati Choudhury Antibiofilm efficacy of gold nanoparticles against oropharyngeal pathogens in oral mucositis $9,668 (CDET)
Dr Graeme Ting Prof Murray Thomson, Jack Lintern, Dr Joanna Ngo (ADHB), Dr Guo Ling (ADHB) 'Hyperbaric Oxygen: Who wants it?' A case series analysis of patients referred for hyperbaric oxygen from dentists, maxillofacial surgeons and otolaryngologists in the prevention or treatment of osteoradionecrosis (ORN) in New Zealand $4,880

Named investigators are from the SJWRI/Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago (UO) unless otherwise noted.
Italicized names are postgraduate research students.
ADHB: Auckland District Health Board
CDET: Continuing Dental Education Trust (Auckland) Award
UOC: University of Otago Christchurch

Ministry of Health Oral Health Research Grants

In 2007, the NZ Ministry of Health established a funding programme for oral health research, managed by the NZDA and its Research Foundation, to fund research targeted towards the oral health priorities of the Ministry. Priority is given to oral health research that targets children and adolescents; people of all ages with physical, intellectual, behavioural, or cognitive disabilities, or who are medically compromised; people experiencing inequalities of outcome (e.g. Maori, Pacific and low-income populations); maternal oral health; older adults; and research focusing on promoting oral health, building links with primary care and building the oral health workforce.

In the 2021 MoH Oral Health Research round, SJWRI researchers are lead or key named investigators on projects awarded a total of $61,537 in funding.

Lead investigator
Other named investigators Project title Awarded
Dr Joanne Choi Sam Carrington, Jane Choi, Dr Susan Moffat, Prof Warwick Duncan Understanding tooth size and morphology differences in NZ children: applications for the development of novel white shell crowns to treat dental caries $17,000
A/Prof Lara Friedlander Shraddha Patel, Dr Trudy Milne, Prof Paul Cooper, A/Prof Haizal Hussaini Hyperglycaemia and the dental pulp – So what about angiogenesis? $14,989
Dr Moira Smith
(Public Health, UOW)*
Nazahiah Bakri, Prof Murray Thomson, A/Prof Jonathan Broadbent Workplace oral health promotion: impact and acceptability for those working in the aged care setting $10,548
Prof Murray Thomson A/Prof Manikandan Ekambaran, Dr Arun Natarajan (CDHB) Improving oral health-related quality of life among Canterbury children following dental treatment under general anaesthesia: the role of family functioning $19,000

Named investigators are from the SJWRI/Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago unless otherwise noted.
Italicized names are postgraduate research students. *Associate Investigator of the SJWRI
CDHB: Canterbury District Health Board
UOW: University of Otago Wellington

Summaries of these research projects will be presented in forthcoming issues of the NZ Dental Association magazine NZDA News.

Congratulations to all those funded in this year's rounds.

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