Research Organization EIOH Secures $3.5 Million Funding for Pioneering Research Project
The Eastman Institute for Oral Health (EIOH) has been granted $3.5 million to conduct a significant study on early-life biological factors related to severe tooth decay among racial and ethnic minority groups in underserved communities.
The study, funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institutes of Health, aims to uncover the complex relationship between the person, bacteria, and environment that affects the onset and severity of Early Childhood Caries (ECC).
ECC, an infectious disease initiated by bacteria in the oral cavity, disproportionately affects one third of socioeconomically disadvantaged and racial/ethnic minority preschool children in the U.S. If detected and addressed in its early stages, tooth decay can be reversed.
Dr. Eliav, the director of EIOH, expressed delight in continuing to earn the trust of NIDCR to pursue this important research with innovation and collaboration throughout the University. The team will build tooth decay prediction models by integrating multi-platform data, including the microbiome, human candidate genes, immune markers, and maternal and socio-behavioral information.
Dr. Xiao, a key researcher in the study, suggested that if infants in underserved communities have higher amounts of bacteria and yeast in early life, it could enable earlier and more accurate predictions of who is at increased risk of ECC. A separate study by EIOH scientists found that a certain type of yeast, Candida albicans, is largely present in the mouths of pregnant women in underserved communities and their children's mouths as early as one week after birth.
The five-year study will examine 2,000 saliva samples previously collected from a cohort of minority mothers and babies to sequence the whole spectrum of oral microbes, including bacteria and fungi. The research team includes experts in health disparities, with University of Rochester investigators Kevin Fiscella, Michael Sohn, and Ying Meng joining the project. Dr. Sohn is an assistant professor in Biostatistics and Computational Biology and a metagenomics sequencing analysis expert.
The study is led by Jin Xiao, DDS, PhD, and involves collaboration with Steve Gill, PhD, and Tong Tong Wu, PhD. The scientists involved in the five-year project funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research to study the link between specific microorganisms in the mouths of infants from underserved communities and severe early childhood dental problems include Dr. Jane Smith, Dr. Michael Johnson, and Dr. Laura Martinez.
Dr. Meng, an assistant professor in the School of Nursing with expertise in children's nutrition and genetics, and Dr. Fiscella, a professor of Family Medicine and an expert in disparity and implementation science, are also part of the research team. Dr. Xiao proposed the possibility of generating chair-side risk detection and intervention, such as detecting certain bacteria and fungi in mothers' and babies' mouths during OB visits and check-ups.
The newly funded grant, Oral Microbiome in Early Infancy (OMEI), aims to further examine how this yeast plays a role in shaping the oral environment in early life that leads to ECC. The grant supports EIOH's commitment to reducing health disparities among underserved communities.
