Tufts University School of Dental Medicine has a long history of innovation in dental treatment and materials. The development of the infrastructure for research and training at Tufts will expand our capability for making significant advancements in the understanding of cellular mechanisms of disease and development in the oral cavity and translating that understanding to patient care. Incremental steps have been taken toward the goal of creating a strong research community, but the School of Dental Medicine at Tufts stands poised to focus more fully on the development of research and of graduate research training. The creation of an appropriate plan will be critical to the success of the endeavor. This application contains a two-step method to be overseen by an experienced project director for creating a strategic plan to achieve our research goals. The first step is the evaluation of the critical needs and the development of a Critical Needs Assessment document. The second step is to develop a strategy for infrastructure improvement. The input of several groups will contribute to an Infrastructure Improvement Plan. These participants will be: an Internal Advisory Committee made up advisors from both within the Dental School and other research areas of Tufts, focus groups made up of stakeholders and members of the Internal Advisory Committee; and an External Advisory Committee made up of faculty and/or administrators from other successful Dental Schools and a high level administrator from Tufts, the Associate Provost for Research. The Infrastructure Improvement Plan will serve the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine as a guide for the development of a strong biological research base focused on development and disease, and allow the University to move forward with confidence in success. ? ?
