04 June 2025

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UFCD is 3rd in 2024 Blue Ridge Research Ranking

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The University of Florida College of Dentistry, or UFCD, maintained its #6 rank among dental schools in the nation and #3 among public schools in total National Institutes of Health, or NIH, dental research funding. According to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, or BRIMR, which tracks all NIH funding, UFCD has been in the top 10 among dental schools every year since 2000, supporting a broad array of innovative research. The latest report from BRIMR is based on funding for the 2024 federal fiscal year, or FFY, and shows the college’s total award of $14.5 million, an increase of 4.7% since the previous year and a 33.4% increase since FFY 2020.

“This achievement is evidence of our investigators’ strengths and commitment to innovation and our college’s unified focus on advancing science, education and patient care. Research is an integral part of UFCD’s purpose and mission and it underscores our responsibility to support discoveries that improve health,” said A. Isabel Garcia, D.D.S., M.S., dean.

Garcia says that the college’s research goals include emphasizing interdisciplinary science within the university and helping develop the oral health researchers of the future through programs like the DMD/PhD program and a formal research track for DMD students who are interested pursuing research projects with faculty mentors.

The college’s research emphasizes oral infectious diseases in dentistry, bone biology, pain and neurosciences, translational and behavioral research to improve oral health care and patient outcomes.

Currently, UFCD has three research training programs in oral biology and pain/aging research.

Since 2011, the college’s Comprehensive Training Program in Oral Biology has supported over 42 predoctoral fellows, 26 postdoctoral fellows, and eight postdoctoral associates. The program provides comprehensive pre- and postdoctoral trainings using the college’s educational, research and clinical resources directly related to oral health and diseases. Led by Jose Lemos, Ph.D., the program currently supports seven predoctoral fellows (including three PhD candidates and four dual-degree DMD/PhD trainees), two postdoctoral fellows, and one postdoctoral associate.

The Integrative and Multidisciplinary Pain and Aging Research Training, or IMPART, led by Roger Fillingim, Ph.D., provides research training for postdoctoral fellows interested in pain and aging research. IMPART is a partnership between the UF Pain Research & Intervention Center of Excellence and the UF Institute on Aging. IMPART includes coursework, mentored research experiences, manuscript and grant writing and additional career development opportunities led by an accomplished team of mentors with a broad range of interests. Since 2015, the training program has supported 20 postdoctoral fellows. Currently, the program supports six postdoctoral fellows yearly.

In 2024, Yenisel Cruz-Almeida, Ph.D., in the College of Dentistry, and Kyle Allen, Ph.D., in the UF College of Engineering established the UF Partnerships Across Interdisciplinary Networks: Training through Engineering, Epidemiology & Addiction Medicine, or UF PAIN TEAM.  The program supports three postdoctoral fellows, with two  additional fellows joining in the near future. In total, the program can train four postdoctoral fellows plus one postdoctoral associate per year.

UFCD’s research activities span an impressive breadth of research areas which enables us to address complex issues and make impactful discoveries. Our multidisciplinary research approach positions UFCD at the forefront of oral health innovation.

Source: https://dental.ufl.edu/