# Establishing Readiness of Dental Professionals in Practice-Based Research and Inter-Professional Care

> **NIH NIH U01** · INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS · 2024 · $989,397

## Abstract

Project Summary
Practice-based research (PBR) has demonstrated effectiveness to integrate evidence-based care into clinical
practice, enhance the generalizability of research findings and conduct longitudinal studies not possible through
traditional randomized controlled studies. The PBR Networks (PBRN) in medicine began in 1970 and have
played a crucial role in advancing medical research findings and translating research evidence to practice
settings to enhance patient outcomes. The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
established the Dental Practice-Based Research Network in 2005 and it is now considered to be the largest
dental PBRN in the world. However, PBR experiences have yet to become part of the dental
predoctoral/postdoctoral curriculum. According to NIDCR, it is essential to ‘engage dental students in research
activities and incorporate evidence-based principles into the dental curriculum to enhance their critical thinking
skills to evaluate and incorporate new knowledge into practice.’ In this application, the Indiana University (IU)
School of Dentistry (IUSD) investigators with expertise in basic science, PBR, informatics, and salivary
diagnostics have established collaborations with the Indiana Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI),
IU School of Medicine (IUSM), Purdue College of Pharmacy, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and Indiana Health
Information Exchange to advance clinical research training of dental clinical faculty and trainees, and strengthen
research mentoring partnership amongst students, clinical faculty and researchers. We will advance knowledge
of salivary and serum biomarkers in identifying dental patients susceptible to Sjögren’s Disease (SD), thus
improving patient outcomes and management of patients at risk for SD and manage through interprofessional
communication and collaboration of dental clinicians (DC), pharmacists, rheumatologists, and patients. This
application is significant because it seeks to 1) advance the knowledge and skills of next-generation DCs to
conduct and lead PBR, 2) facilitate interprofessional communication and care via virtual health platforms to
address dental patients’ conditions such as SD that require multidisciplinary expertise for timely diagnosis and
management and 3) develop a salivary hypofunction index in combination with salivary biomarkers to detect
patients susceptible to SD thus improving shared decision making and management of patients at risk for SD.
The outcomes include measurable increases in DC students and faculty completing clinical research and
mentoring training and participation in the proposed PBR study, validation of biomarkers for early detection of
SD in PBR settings, and improvement in coordinating care with other health care providers. The proposed
research is significant because it lays the foundation for multidisciplinary teams to diagnose and manage
individuals affected with SD in community practice settings and reduce cu...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10928782
- **Project number:** 5U01DE033269-02
- **Recipient organization:** INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Angela Bruzzaniti
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $989,397
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-13 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10928782

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10928782, Establishing Readiness of Dental Professionals in Practice-Based Research and Inter-Professional Care (5U01DE033269-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10928782. Licensed CC0.

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