Dr. I. Alpdogan Kantarci Awarded NIH Challenge Grant in Health and Science Research
Associate Professor of Periodontology & Oral Biology Dr. I. Alpdogan Kantarci is the recipient of a NIH Challenge Grant in Health and Science Research. The $406,000 grant will fund his research titled, "Saliva and Serum Inflammatory Biomarkers in Periodontitis: A Study in Older Women," for a two-year period ending October 2011. Dr. Kantarci will serve as the Principal Investigator of the grant along with Co-Investigator Professor and Director of the Center for Clinical Research Dr. Thomas Van Dyke.
As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama on February 17, NIH designated at least $200 million to fund 200 or more grants. To receive these funds applicants needed to demonstrate that they will focus on specific knowledge gaps, scientific opportunities, new technologies, data generation, or research methods and that they would benefit from an influx of funds to quickly advance the area in significant ways. Their research also needed to have a high impact in biomedical or behavioral science and/or public health.
Dr. Kantarci’s research is a collaborative project with the University at Buffalo. The study will screen biomarkers in saliva and serum samples, specifically from older women. The primary aim of their research will be to determine if it is possible to characterize serum levels of biomarkers using saliva. Using saliva would provide a non-invasive method of assessing systemic inflammation, which could have many applications. The secondary focus of the research is to develop prediction models for incident periodontal disease and also for progression of existing disease, and the third and final focus will be to find common inflammatory biomarkers in periodontal disease and other chronic diseases, such as osteoporosis, which is frequently diagnosed in the older women who provided the samples.
Dr. Kantarci is pleased to receive the funding and explained that the project specifically meets the goals of the Challenge Grants adding, "The majority of the saliva and serum samples have already been collected so it will be feasible to complete this study in 18 months, giving us time to write a comprehensive report on the findings and initiate new research projects. We will use new technologies, adopt epidemiological methods, and correlate biomarkers with clinical parameters in a large—approximately 1,000—cohort of patients, and be able to translate the acquired information directly to patient care."
"This is an exciting award for both Dr. Kantarci and the School," said Dean Jeffrey Hutter. "Dr. Kantarci faced intense competition from across the nation to receive this funding and I am very proud that his research stood out among many worthy competitors."