Dentistry researchers awarded CIHR funding for oral health research

Two teams including nine researchers from the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry have received Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Catalyst Grant - Oral Health Data Analysis funding.

These CIHR funds aim to strengthen Canada's health systems, support the mobilization of oral health data analysis and enhance oral health and disease equity.

Fabiana Almeida, principal applicant, and her team members Camila Pereira, Nazila Ameli, Hollis Lai, Carrie Ye and Rafael Figueiredo received a CIHR Catalyst Grant - Oral Health Data Analysis worth $100,000 for their project “Oral-Health Indicators: A Gateway to Bone Mineral Density-Related Systemic Conditions in Aging Canadians.” 

Maryam Sharifzadeh-Amin, principal applicant, and her team members Fabiana Almeida, Khaled Altabtbaei, Babak Bohlouli and Rafael Figueiredo received a CIHR Catalyst Grant - Oral Health Data Analysis worth $200,000 for their project “Bridging the Gaps in Oral Health Data in Canada: A National Surveillance-Based Analysis of Oral Health Status, Access Care, Disparities, and their associations with Lifestyle, Social Determinants, and Systemic Health Using CHMS Data.”

Khaled Altabtbaei was a co-applicant on an application led by Dalhousie University that was awarded a CIHR Catalyst Grant - Oral Health Data Analysis worth $599,869 for the project “Mobilizing a Pan-Canadian Network for Omics and Oral Health via CHMS Cycle 7 Using Deep Sequencing to Uncover Antimicrobial Resistance.”

Through this funding, the CIHR is committed to maintaining a focus on equity issues in oral health, fostering opportunities for new oral health research discoveries and building long-term sustainable capacity in oral health data analysis. 

“We are incredibly proud to see two of our research teams receive their first CIHR Catalyst Grants, plus one of our researchers being a co-applicant on an external grant led by another institution,” says Paul Major, chair of the Mike Petryk School of Dentistry. “These grants not only recognize the outstanding potential of our researchers but also mark a significant investment in the future of oral health in Canada. The projects they are leading or participating in — each focused on enhancing oral health data analysis — will contribute meaningfully to advancing equitable care, informed policy, and scientific understanding. This is an important milestone for both the recipients and for oral health research at the University of Alberta.”