News Archives - Page 10 of 11

Inclusion of Oral Health in Universal Health Coverage (UHC)

On September 23rd, the first United Nations High-Level Meeting (UN HLM) on UHC took place in New York City to secure political commitment from countries on UHC. In the political declaration of the UN HLM, the representatives of States and Governments committed to, “strengthen[ing] efforts to address eye health conditions and oral health, as well as rare diseases and neglected tropical diseases, as part of universal health coverage.” In the past, the importance of oral health has rarely been acknowledged, so this signifies a step in the right direction.

Oral diseases go unnoticed but affect billions of people around the world. The Global Burden of Disease Study 2016 estimates that more than half of the world’s population is burdened with untreated oral diseases, which can lead to pain, infection, tooth loss, and loss of productivity. According to an International and American Associations for Dental Research (IADR/AADR) report, the total global costs associated with oral diseases is approximately $442 billion per year. Oral diseases are the most common non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and periodontal (gum) disease is a risk factor for other prevalent NCDs, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD).

During the UN HLM, Mr. António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, highlighted that UHC is a significant achievement that will drive progress over the next decade on communicable diseases, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, while addressing NCDs through robust and resilient primary health care systems. As we progress towards UHC, oral health needs will finally be recognized and addressed by the global health community, so people will get the treatment they need.

Global Oral Health Awareness Breakfast News

The UW Timothy A. DeRouen Center for Global Oral Health hosted its first ever Global Oral Health Awareness Fundraiser Breakfast on Aug 29^th, 2019 at the UW Botanic Gardens. The Fundraiser Breakfast was an opportunity for the DeRouen Center to advocate for global oral health and to share the Center’s work with a diverse audience of students and professionals. This event was the kick-off of our yearlong #GlobalOralHealthAwareness campaign.

Dr. Chiodo presents at the breakfast — UW School of Dentistry Dean Gary Chiodo greets attendees and gives introduction.

The breakfast started with a welcome from School of Dentistry Dean Gary Chiodo. Derouen Center Director Dr. Ana Lucia Seminario then introduced the four global sites and shared the Center’s mission and values. These introductions were followed by speeches from our amazing guest speakers, Representative Marcus Riccelli of the Washington State House of Representatives and Dr. Jean Kagubare of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Representative Riccelli spoke about initiatives in Washington State related to oral health, and Dr. Kagubare described the economic impact of health policy with case of Rwanda. The speeches were followed by a brief panel session where attendees could ask questions in person or via livestream.

Over 100 guests from various health organizations and UW departments attended our event. Organizations represented included the University of Washington School of Dentistry, the Washington State Department of Health, Seamar Community Clinics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the International Community Health Services, the Oral Cancer Walk Foundation, Hospital la Familia, and more. Our livestream videos reached out over 1,600 people around the world!

Senators at table — Speakers Representative Marcus Riccelli (L) and Dr. Jean Kagubare (R) respond to questions during the panel session.

We received generous contributions that will be used to support our mission: to improve quality of life by promoting collaboration and inclusivity in oral and craniofacial research that impacts global health. The donations will be put towards research and education across our sites in Kenya, Peru, Seattle, and Thailand.

The Timothy A. DeRouen Center for Global Oral Health is excited for more events in the future to advocate for global oral health and to continue our #GlobalOralHealthAwareness campaign!

To keep up with our projects and upcoming events, follow us on Facebook. Photos and an archived video of the event can also be viewed on our Facebook page.

It is easy to be an advocate for global oral health. Contributions to the #GlobalOralHealthAwareness campaign can be made online.

DeRouen Center is awarded the UW Morell Research Fund

Dr. Douglass L. Morell Research Fund is provided by the University of Washington School of Dentistry to support those biomedical and behavioral research activities for small-scale, short-term research projects, using mechanisms that allow rapid response to unanticipated needs and new opportunities. Specific areas of priority include pilot research, research by new investigators, studies to take advantage of emerging opportunities in ongoing research projects.

In July 2019, the Timothy A. DeRouen Center for Global Oral Health was awarded Morell Research Fund for project “Refugees’ Endeavors For Utilizing Governmental Existing Efforts in the State (REFUGEES); Dental Health Care Utilization Among Newly Resettled Refugees 2015-2018,” led by our intern Jennifer Liu, UW MPH Epidemiology graduate student.

The REFUGEES Project establishes baseline dental utilization data for refugees in the state to evaluate the effectiveness of customized, culturally sensitive interventions aimed at increasing dental utilization and improving refugee oral health. The aim of this longitudinal study is to determine oral health needs, dental services utilization rate, and factors associated with requesting services for refugee compared to non-refugee Medicaid patients, determine the most common dental services accessed between the two groups, and assess costs of dental treatment for refugees and non-refugees.

Through this pilot research project, the DeRouen Center aims to provide key information that can be used to develop culturally relevant interventions in order to improve oral health for thousands of refugees in Washington. In addition, REFUGEES Project will make us a stronger, more equitable community by strengthening collaborations and partnerships between the UW and State agencies, including Department of Health, Health Care Authority, and Department of Social and Health Services.

SeaMar is a champion for refugees’ oral health

The world is facing one of the worst migration crises in recent history. At the end of 2018, 70.8 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide due to persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations. Within the United States of America, Washington State resettles the second largest number of refugees. During the resettlement process, refugees are insured through Medicaid and must receive a comprehensive health assessment. However, oral health assessments are not completed or adequately addressed during this process.

In June 2019, we began our conversations with SeaMar Community Health Center Clinics to conduct formative research to develop a project, which aims to integrate comprehensive and culturally appropriate oral health services within existing community health clinics serving refugees. Results from this initial development will be used to pilot an interventional study that seeks to demonstrate the feasibility and sustainability of integrating oral health within the standard of medical care assessment within the refugee resettlement process.

In the Fall of 2019, the DeRouen Center for Global Health and SeaMar Community Health Center Clinics will apply for the Robert Wood Johnson grant for pioneering ideas for this project. Our overarching goal is to create policy change by integrating oral health screening into the mandatory medical assessment that refugees receive after their arrival to the United States. The DeRouen Center is very excited for the community collaboration with SeaMar Community Health Center Clinics and establishing our Seattle site, which is dedicated to health advocacy, outreach and policy for the refugee populations in Washington State.

Belle Chen Receives “Academic Careers in Oral Health Fellowship” Award

Belle Chen, UW School of Dentistry 2020

Third year dental student Belle Chen has been selected to receive the Academic Careers in Oral Health Fellowship established by the University of Washington School of Dentistry. The fellowship is targeted toward students who have an interest in teaching. Belle’s winning project was titled Global Oral Health: Integration of an inter-disciplinary Global Health curriculum into the dental education.

In the Spring 2019 quarter, Belle facilitated the course Global Oral Health, taught by Dr. Ana Lucia Seminario. The course is designed to introduce both dental and public health students to global health inequities and the global burden of oral disease.
Belle Chen, UW School of Dentistry 2020

Belle worked with Dr. Seminario to expand the course by integrating the Harvard Global Health curriculum into the existing curriculum. Her specific role in developing the course included sharing her field experience in the inter-professional health project in Claverito, Peru, developing a platform to explore the cultures and global realities of different countries, and analyzing data on students’ perceptions as well as their knowledge of the subject before and after the course.

Belle, third from right, with UW School of Dentistry classmates.

“This fellowship will allow me to showcase my work with Dr. Seminario on educating future dentists about the importance of global oral health,” said Belle. The fellowship work consists of documenting student learning through exams, photos, and final projects in addition to brainstorming ways to keep students engaged during class and maintain that engagement with the subject after the course ends.

Belle met Dr. Seminario during her first year in dental school. Belle reached out to Dr. Seminario, at the time the only dental professor associated with the Department of Global Health, to discuss plans of incorporating public health into her career goals. Dr. Seminario invited Belle to join the Timothy A. DeRouen Center for Global Oral Health as an intern. Through her participation with the DeRouen Center, Belle hopes to increase dental students’ awareness of and involvement in global oral health.

After she completes dental school, Belle plans to pursue a Master of Public Health degree with a focus in either Global Health or Health Policy to gain insight into healthcare systems and creating inter-professional relationships. She also hopes to explore careers, whether academic, clinical, or both, to participate in the global initiative of improving oral health. The Academic Careers in Oral Health Fellowship will enhance her skills as a future leader in global oral health.

Harvard Dental School Partners with Center for Spring 2019 Course

The University of Washington (UW) spring elective course Global Oral Health (DENTEL 520A) has featured interactive lectures, guest speakers, and immersive team-based projects to teach students about global health inequities and the burden of oral disease worldwide. The Spring 2019 iteration of the course incorporated a new component: a partnership with Harvard School for didactics on global health for oral health researchers and practitioners. Enrollment was open to students from both the UW School of Dentistry and the School of Public Health.

Dr. Brittany Seymour, DDS doing fieldwork in Costa Rica.

Dr. Brittany Seymour, Assistant Professor of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and Dr. Ana Lucia Seminario, Director of the Timothy A. DeRouen Center for Global Oral Health, integrated their existing curricula to design the course. Students learned about a wide range of public health topics that impact global oral health, and although Dr. Seymour is based in Boston she was able to give a lecture and meet the students through video conference.

A combination of student feedback and test scores will be used to evaluate the integration of the two curricula, and those findings will inform the structure of the course next year. Additionally, the results of the collaboration between the UW DeRouen Center and Harvard will be presented at the 2020 International Association for Dental Research Session and the 2020 Consortium of Universities of Global Health Conference. Dr. Seymour, Dr. Seminario, and teaching assistant Belle Chen hope that their findings will encourage further collaboration between universities at the classroom level and promote innovation and collaboration in global oral health.

Center for Global Oral Health Awarded NIDCR CFAR Supplement Grant for HIV Study

In May 2019, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) Office of AIDS Research awarded the University of Washington (UW) Timothy A. DeRouen Center for Global Oral Health an administrative supplement grant to support the continuing research collaboration between the DeRouen Center, the UW Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), and the University of Nairobi (UoN). The supplement will be used to advance the ongoing pilot study Children’s HIV Oral Manifestations Project (CHOMP).

Collaboration is one of the four key values foundational to the DeRouen Center, and the supplement opportunity—designed by NIDCR to support interdisciplinary scientific collaborations between CFARs and oral health research organizations—was a perfect fit for CHOMP.

CHOMP Community Oral Health Officers Farhan Haret and Vincent Owiti with the DeRouen Center Program Manager at the Comprehensive Care Clinic in Nairobi, Kenya.

CHOMP, a nested cohort study within the Kenyan Pediatric Study, aims to understand the connection between HIV and oral health in children. The supplement grant hypothesizes that salivary antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) could play a role in decreasing occurrences of oral diseases in children with HIV. With the supplement from NIDCR, the UW and UoN team will transport the saliva samples collected from participants in Nairobi to Seattle, WA where UW School of Dentistry’s Dr. Whasun Chung will analyze them using state-of-the-art technology.

The research team is excited to begin work under the NIDCR supplement. This opportunity will produce new findings in the field of global oral health, leading to improved care for children with HIV and strengthening international collaborative connections.

Oral Health Under the Spotlight at UW Inter-CFAR Sub-Saharan Africa Symposium in Kenya

Prof. Scott McClelland (center), the Symposium organizer from UW CFAR, listens to a colleague during a group discussion.

On February 1^st and 2^nd 2019, hundreds of researchers attended the Inter-CFAR Sub-Saharan Africa Symposium in Machakos County, Kenya. CFAR (the University of Washington/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research) and the National Institutes of Health sponsored the Symposium. The goals of the CFAR-SSA working group include a) promoting new collaborative research opportunities by developing, improving, and fostering multidisciplinary and inter-CFAR research conducted by its members directed at high-priority scientific and public health challenges, and b) mentoring young SSA investigators by providing a unique, collaborative, and cross-institutional capacity building setting for young investigators working in SSA.

Dr. Kemoli, Prof. Ramos-Gomez, and Dr. Seminario at the symposium.

This year was the first time the oral health component of HIV was incorporated into the Symposium agenda. Dr. Ana Lucia Seminario of the UW School of Dentistry and Dr. Arthur Kemoli of the University of Nairobi both gave presentations regarding their research in the field. Dr. Seminario’s presentation, entitled “Current research work in oral health and HIV in Kenya,” discussed ongoing studies that aim to understand more about HIV’s effect on children’s oral health and quality of life. Dr. Kemoli’s presentation, “Efforts to increase research capacity at University of Nairobi,” described the collaborative work happening at the University of Nairobi in the realm of oral health training and research. Joining the UW team, Prof. Caroline Shiboski, Chair of the Department of Orofacial Sciences at the University of California San Francisco presented her work on “Oral Diagnostic Tool for Non-Dentists: Evolution of Inter-Professional Collaborations to Advance HIV-related Global Oral Health Research”; Prof. Francisco Ramos-Gomez, Director of UCLA Center for Children’s Oral Health (UCCOH) and Director of UCLA Pediatric Dentistry Advanced Clinical Training Program (ACT), lectured on “Oral Manifestations of HIV in children.”

Prof. Shiboski and Prof. Ramos-Gomez speak with other Symposium attendees over tea.

This is a milestone in the integration of oral health within HIV research at the University of Washington and CFAR. We are excited for this collaboration! More information about this milestone.

NIDCR supports UW School of Dentistry’s Global Oral Health Symposium

The National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) has awarded the Timothy A. DeRouen Center for Global Oral Health with a grant to support its first symposium in global oral health. The symposium takes place July 31 on the University of Washington campus.

Global inequalities in the distribution of and access to care for oral diseases represent unresolved societal burdens. Problems to be addressed in the symposium include:

Fundamental gaps in knowledge and understanding of the multifactorial factors related to oral health.
Lack of priorities developed with the active participation of the communities in need.
Limited research in implementation and integration sciences of oral health.

The symposium, titled “Interprofessional Health Care: Adding Oral Health to Interdisciplinary Global Health Projects Worldwide,” aims to provide the appropriate setting for global oral health research beyond focusing solely on oral health. The symposium’s objectives are to:

Propose strategies to integrate oral and craniofacial research in interdisciplinary collaborations by showcasing past and current worldwide research projects.
Generate new opportunities for collaboration in global oral health by targeting participation of colleagues beyond dentistry.
Enhance the DeRouen Center’s existing collaborations by creating a five-year plan for its current lines of research in Thailand, Kenya, Peru, and Seattle.
Create a pipeline of future leaders in global oral health research by exposing current dental pre-, post-doc students and fellows to global health, and exposing current general pre-, post-doc students and fellows to oral and craniofacial research.

UW oral health center wins grant for Africa HIV research

The University of Washington’s Timothy A. DeRouen Center for Global Oral Health has received a grant to support research on African children and adolescents exposed to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Large group of Kenyan children — Kenyan schoolchildren receive oral hygiene instruction. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Arthur Kemoli, University of Nairobi)

The center received a 2018 Regional Development Grant from the International Association for Dental Research (IADR), and will share it with IADR’s Nigeria division and East and Southern Africa divisions. The grant will be used to create a sustainable research site to support the AFRICA Project (Advocating For HIV Research In Children and Adolescents).

As part of the grant, junior faculty from Nigeria and Kenya will attend the UW School of Dentistry’s Summer Institute in Clinical Dental Research Methods and also study HIV in the UW School of Public Health. This funding enhances DeRouen Center’s existing collaboration with Kenya and expands its African outreach to Nigeria.

A strategic planning meeting is scheduled in late July at the 2018 IADR annual meeting in London with grant co-investigators Dr. Morenike Folayan of Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo University, Dr. Arthur Kemoli of Kenya’s University of Nairobi, and their IADR division leadership.

Dr. Kemoli will also talk at the DeRouen Center’s first symposium on global oral health in Seattle on July 31. More information on the Center’s work in Kenya can be found on the Center’s website.