Md. dental school research fund grew 47% in 2009

Jan 25, 2010

The University of Maryland Dental School got a 47% increase in funding for research and an endowment for a new chair last year, the university reported.

The $15.4 million total research funding was the highest percentage increase from 2008 garnered by any of the six professional schools of the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Yet, the achievement should be shared with sister schools, said Christian Stohler, D.M.D., dean of the dental school. "Much of the success is due to cooperative projects emerging across the campus, especially with the School of Medicine in the research areas of tissue regeneration, carcinogenesis, pain and neuroscience, and microbial pathogenesis," he said. But donations from alumni and friends in 2009 were also higher than any previous year.

In December, Dr. Stohler named Stuart Josell, D.M.D., chair of the orthodontics department, as the school's new Edgar and Betty Sweren Chair in Orthodontics, using a "substantial" gift from the Swerens, according to the report.

Also in 2009, the school expanded digital dentistry education and dental care to the surrounding community. It launched the school's first state-of-the-art rural clinic to serve the underserved, a cooperative venture in Perryville, MD, with Cecil College and Union Hospital.

"There are a lot of dental needs in that community," Dr. Stohler said. "So far we know there are about 4,000 children who have not seen a dentist in the past four years."

So far, the clinic has served more than 700 patients and is serving more each day, the report stated. The Perryville clinic uses telemedicine so that students working there have access to the specialty faculty in Baltimore.

The students also provided more than $12 million worth of "unreimbursed and under-reimbursed" care to people in the Baltimore area, according to the report.

Dr. Stohler also noted that the school has formed partnerships with 14 other dental schools around the world. It admits 130 students each year from about 3,000 applicants. Around the world, about 200,000 people view the school's online lectures each year.