The University of Colorado School of Dentistry (SOD) is a regional school with the potential to be a model for research in the field of oral health. In the past three years, SOD has improved its standing in terms of NIDCR research funding from 48th to 24th, and has obtained a construction grant from the NCRR to complete state-of-the art laboratories at the new Fitzsimons campus of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. The school has successfully recruited new research faculty, thereby expanding its research focus in biomaterials, developmental craniofacial biology, cancer biology, salivary gland signaling, and neuroscience. Objectives: SOD seeks NIDCR support to 1) perform a critical needs assessment and 2) to develop a realistic plan to improve the research infrastructure of the school, thereby leading to the creation of a """"""""Center of Excellence"""""""" in oral health research in the Rocky Mountain region. The school will undertake a rigorous self-study as pursuant to this RFA. For this purpose, in Part I, it will convene an Institutional Planning Committee composed of research faculty from SOD, the School of Medicine, the school of Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and The Children's Hospital in which the SOD's Department of Pediatric Dentistry is located. The faculty represents diverse expertise in many focal areas of research. The Institutional Planning Committee will be divided into two working subcommittees. One will focus on Basic Sciences and Biotechnology; the other, on Clinical, Behavioral, and Translational research. An External Advisory Committee will be formed from faculty experts in basic science and clinical dental research and administration, industry, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and technology transfer. The committees, working separately and then together, will identify several key research areas of potential success. In Part II, they will determine effective collaborative arrangements within and without the University. They will evaluate available resources to determine the feasibility of specific research areas, and will set goals and objectives for each area. Once final priorities are established and final collaborative commitments are secured, job descriptions for potential new faculty will be created, and the infrastructure improvement plan will be developed.
