# Examining provider bias in an underserved dental patient population: Improving health equity through a Dental School Practice-based Research Network (dsPBRN)

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · 2024 · $690,305

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Health care disparities and inequities are national problems. To build the next generation of clinician
scientists to advance health equity and reduce disparities, it is critical to provide clinical and research
training through the lens of health equity. Healthcare equity concerns need to be addressed through the
providers’ engagement in real-world patient care environments. The development of patient-based
research network (PBRN) activities within clinical dental educational care programs offers the potential
for meaningful research as well as building a culture supporting a broader and more diverse cohort of
future practitioners to participate in community based PBRNs with greater capacity for equity
considerations in both their practice and research activities. To build this future capacity, the University
of Maryland Baltimore (UMB) and the Howard University (HU) are partnered with the shared goals to
foster a culture of scientific inquiry and collaboration within our clinical dental education environments
with scientific partnerships defined by shared strengths and synergies across institutions, to build
foundational educational experiences in clinical practice-based research that encourage a more
energized, diverse, and inclusive clinician scientist/practitioner, and to collect specific data examining
the effects of racial bias on clinical care in our two academic oral health centers. To achieve these goals,
we will integrate four programmatic components: 1) To establish program-specific educational pathways
in clinical and practice-based research for students and faculty that include an understanding of
healthcare disparities and equity awareness among providers. 2) To utilize inter-institutional strengths
to build collaborative engagement opportunities through programmatic guidance, education, mentoring,
and school-based practice research activities. 3) To develop inter-institutional mentoring partnerships
between HU and the UMB faculty and students that foster bidirectional engagement (collaboration). 4)
To develop a PBRN study providing clinical practice-based research experiences examining
associations of racial bias with provision of dental care that align with student and faculty experiences
and training in this program. Our study hypothesis is that racial biases negatively impact care delivery
for Black (vs. White) patients in academic dental clinical settings. The practice-based research project
proposed will examine the associations between implicit/explicit biases among dental student and
resident providers with delivery of care metrics across diverse, underserved patient populations in two
urban dental schools, UMB and HU. Successful completion of the project will address the health
disparities and expand the reach of PBRN through dental education care programs.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10931737
- **Project number:** 5U01DE033228-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE
- **Principal Investigator:** THOMAS W OATES
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $690,305
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-19 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10931737

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10931737, Examining provider bias in an underserved dental patient population: Improving health equity through a Dental School Practice-based Research Network (dsPBRN) (5U01DE033228-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10931737. Licensed CC0.

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