NIDCR Director Visits CDM
On September 5, Rena D’Souza, DDS, MS, PhD, director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, a division of the National Institutes of Health, visited the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine. Dr. D’Souza is past president of the American Association for Dental Research and the International Association for Dental Research and her connection to CDM spans decades— she worked as a researcher in the late ‘70s with Dr. Melvin Moss, a former dean of the school., in the Center for Craniofacial Growth. In 2016, CDM awarded Dr. D’Souza the Birnberg Research Medal. Over the course of her distinguished career, she has demonstrated her steadfast commitment to advancing fundamental knowledge about dental, oral, and craniofacial health and disease and translating these findings into prevention, early detection, and treatment strategies that improve overall health for all individuals and communities.
Dr. D’Souza’s agency supports basic, translational, and clinical research on oral cancer, orofacial pain, tooth decay, periodontal disease, and salivary gland dysfunction, as well as the oral complications that can result from systemic diseases, with the goal of finding ways to prevent, detect and effectively treat diseases of the head and neck.
During her visit, she met with several of CDM’s faculty researchers whose work is, in part, funded by the NIDCR. Researchers at academic health centers are “the future of the profession,” D’Souza said, “and are integral to the creation of knowledge, not just the consumption of knowledge.”
In the afternoon, CDM pre- and postdoctoral students had the opportunity to attend Dr. D’Souza’s lecture, “Creating the Future We Seek,” during which she outlined her agency’s strategic goals, which include enhancing diversity in clinical trials, and finding ways to address and mitigate the connections between pain, mental illness, substance use, and oral health. “We need to create evidence for policy reform,” she said.
She also presented highlights from the NIDCR Strategic Plan (2021-2026). The plan advances research and training strategic priorities while focusing on core values including equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Of particular concern, D’Souza said, is the connection between mental illness and oral health. “People facing mental illness are likely to face other issues, that are not addressed,” she said. D’Souza said that she had had the opportunity to meet with President Shafik, who has chosen mental health as one of the priorities of her administration and that they discussed the ways in which the University might collaborate with the NIDCR on this shared initiative.
D'Souza also reviewed the programs that the NIDCR has in place in order to support its goals. She noted that a key component, integrating multidisciplinary experiences in dental school curricula, is already a key component of CDM’s approach to dental education.