At the heart of this work are our 10 dedicated working groups and our Citizen Advisory Board for Oral Health Advancement. These groups bring valuable knowledge, advice and voices from the community to help guide and support everything we do. Q. Please tell us more about the core work that NCOHR does. We’re all about helping our research community grow through education, research, and sharing knowledge in meaningful ways. That’s why we offer a variety of programs designed to spark curiosity, build skills and turn ideas into action. Whether it’s short training internships, research awards for students, student-led research groups, summer institutes, seed funding for new projects, or team-building workshops, our goal is to help discoveries make their way from research to real-life improvements in oral health and overall health. Since we got started, NCOHR has supported: z 166 student research awards z 29 early-stage (seed) research projects z 14 team-building workshops z 5 student-led workshops z 1 workshop on technology and knowledge transfer z 1 workshop on trainee development and knowledge exchange z 8 summer research institutes Each year, we invest in these programs by providing funding that directly supports Canada’s oral health research community. Q. How does NCOHR contribute to the dental profession and oral health in Canada? We know that powerful ideas come to life when people from different fields work together. That’s why NCOHR initiatives focus on building strong collaboration between researchers, dental professionals, doctors, public health experts, patient representatives and policy makers. By combining their perspectives and skills, they’re driving real progress in oral health and overall health. These partnerships are uncovering important links between oral health and overall health, leading to the development of better treatments and smarter ways to prevent disease. They’re also harnessing new technologies to transform care, while identifying and breaking down the barriers that prevent people from accessing the oral health services they need. But even the best ideas need a little help to get started. That’s where NCOHR comes in. By offering support, resources and a strong network, we help oral health researchers launch their work and turn innovation into tangible impacts. We also were instrumental in creating Canada’s National Oral Health Research Strategy 2024–2030, which is a pioneering plan aimed at improving oral health across the country. The strategy was launched at the Canadian Oral Health Summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in June 2024, following the World Health Organization’s call for countries to develop such strategies. Q. What’s coming up for NCOHR in the future? We’re in an exciting period of growth. We will launch two training programs: the ACFD-NCOHR Short Training Internships Program, in partnership with the Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry, and CATAPULT—the Canadian Oral Health Academy Program for Universal Virtual Training. These programs are designed to energize research training by giving students and faculty direct access to the latest breakthroughs in oral health research and education. The content is always evolving, regularly updated to reflect new evidence, cutting-edge technology and emerging health priorities. We’re also expanding our influence through a growing set of strategic research themes. These focus on bigpicture questions—how oral health connects to overall health, how treatments perform in the real world, why some people face more barriers to care than others, and how to make dental care more equitable and accessible. We’re also exploring the future of science with “omics” approaches—advanced tools that explore the molecular makeup of biological systems to unlock powerful insights into health. We’re training the next generation of researchers, health professionals and leaders, all while championing bold ideas and strong partnerships. Learn more about NCOHR at: ncohr-rcrsb.ca 19 Issue 5 | 2025 | News and Events
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTE5MTI=