# Complex Systems Science Approaches to Addressing Oral Health Disparities

> **NIH NIH R00** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · 2020 · $236,099

## Abstract

Oral health disparities, particularly among children, continue to be a pressing problem in the US. While the oral
health of children has improved overall, those from disadvantaged population groups continue to suffer from a
greater than average disease burden. Oral health disparities reflect a complex set of pathways and
mechanisms with bidirectional associations (feedback loops) that traverse the macro- and micro-levels of
disease causation. The overall goal of this proposal is to facilitate the candidate’s long term career goal of
becoming an independent social epidemiologist capable of investigating disease causation and prevention
through a complex systems-based perspective. The current proposal aims to provide the candidate with the
opportunity to develop the necessary skills and experience to achieve research independence by extending
their formal training in epidemiology and applied experiences in oral health disparities research. Development
activities proposed during the mentored phase are related to training the candidate in Complex Systems
Science (CSS) approaches, namely social network analysis (SNA) and agent-based modeling (ABM). Training
will occur through coursework, multidisciplinary mentoring and applied research experiences. The primary
vehicle for development is the research plan. The proposed research aims to use CSS approaches to better
understand the factors and mechanisms underlying oral health among a disadvantaged population, and to
improve the strategies aimed at improving oral health, thereby reducing observed disparities. These
approaches facilitate an understanding of the population, social interaction and environmental influence
simultaneously and can explore interactions, feedback loops and reciprocity between independent and
dependent variables. The first phase of the proposed work aims to develop a detailed conceptual model of oral
health disparities that captures the multi-level mechanisms and will be used to inform the development of an
agent-based model. ABM refers to the use of stochastic computer simulations to understand how the
distribution of health and disease on a population level emerge from explicitly programmed health behaviors,
social interactions and movements of simulated individuals over simulated time. An ABM of oral health and
social networks among residents of public housing will be developed and utilized to identify viable intervention
targets. The second phase of the work proposes to conduct a longitudinal SNA of adult caregivers of young
children residing in public housing. SNA is an empirical tool that has been utilized to better understand the
social context within which individuals interact. The planned analysis will serve to provide longitudinal data that
can be used to validate the estimates of intervention targets obtained from the agent-based model.
Additionally, the feasibility and acceptability of a potential network-based intervention will be evaluated within
the sample. Completio...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9983483
- **Project number:** 5R00DE025917-05
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS
- **Principal Investigator:** Brenda Heaton
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $236,099
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9983483

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9983483, Complex Systems Science Approaches to Addressing Oral Health Disparities (5R00DE025917-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9983483. Licensed CC0.

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