Oral Health Initiative

The National Oral Health Research Strategy (NOHRS) is in the early stages of development, following initial launch discussions held in Ottawa, in March 2023. This preliminary meeting involved a small but representative group of 70 individuals from across the oral health research community, health researchers from other disciplines, professional bodies, and patient and public partners.

This initiative is led by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s (CIHR) Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (IMHA) in collaboration with Canadian Association for Dental Research, Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry, Network for Canadian Oral Health Research, Canadian Dental Association, Denturist Association of Canada, Canadian Dental Therapists Association and Canadian Dental Hygienists Association.

We are aware that many other people and organizations have expressed interest in the NOHRS process and are very grateful for this high level of engagement. The next step for co-creating the strategy is to consult more widely, in order to gain the broadest possible input. The pipeline to co-create the strategy involves a series of opportunities for broader engagement, culminating in the anticipated publication of the NOHRS in March 2024. It will be a living strategy, shaped by the oral health research community.

The steering committee would like to invite anyone with an interest in oral health research to provide input on the following:

• First draft of NOHRS research themes—these six initial themes emerged at the March launch event and are likely to evolve over the coming months.
• Missed research themes and priorities—based on the summary of discussions in the Executive Summary and What We Heard Report.

Access the Executive Summary

Have your say via this survey

Deadline: June 21, 2023

• Addendum

  In line with the plan detailed in the next steps, the following steering committee was convened in April 2023:

  Co-chairs:

  • Dr. Paul Allison, Professor in the Faculty of Dental Medicine & Oral Health Sciences at McGill University. Dr. Allison is currently a member of the Lancet Commission on Global Oral Health, on Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and leader of a national Canadian research team working with Statistics Canada on the oral health element of cycle 7 of the Canadian Health Measures Survey.
  • Dr. Leigha Rock, Vice-President of CADR, Assistant Professor and Director, School of Dental Hygiene, Faculty of Dentistry, Dalhousie University. Dr. Rock is also cross appointed to the Departments of Pharmacology and Pathology in the Faculty of Medicine. She is a Scientist at the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute and holds a scientific appointment at Nova Scotia Health, Department of Anatomical Pathology.

  Committee:

  • Dr. Raj Bhullar, Chair, Research Affairs Committee of ACFD, Associate Dean (Research) for the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba; Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba.
  • Ondina Love, representative from the professional members’ associations, CEO of the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association, Executive Director of the Canadian Foundation for Dental Hygiene Research and Education, Chair of the Extended Healthcare Professionals Coalition, steering committee for the Network for Canadian Oral Health Research.
  • Dr. Belinda Nicolau, Past-President of the CADR, Professor and the Assistant Dean of Research at the Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences - McGill University and the Director of the Oral Cancer group of the Network Canadian Oral Health Research.
  • Dr. Robert Schroth, Professor in the Departments of Preventive Dental Science and the Departments of Pediatrics & Child Health and Community Health Sciences in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba; Provincial Medical Representative for Pediatric Dentistry with Shared Health Inc.; Research Scientist at the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba.
  • Dr. Sonica Singhal, Assistant Professor and Program Director for the discipline of Dental Public Health at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto; Scientist, Oral Health, at Public Health Ontario.
  • Dr. Ana Miriam Velly, Director of the Network for Canadian Oral Health Research (NCOHR), Associate Professor, Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences at McGill University, and the Director of Research at the Department of Dentistry, Jewish General Hospital.
  • Iona Worden-Driscoll, National Network Coordinator with the Network for Canadian Oral Health Research (NCOHR).
  • Dr. Karim Khan, Scientific Director CIHR-IMHA and Professor in the Department of Family Practice and School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia.
  • Dr. Hetty Mulhall, Communications & Events Strategist CIHR-IMHA
  • Dr. Dawn Richards, Consultant, CIHR-IMHA Patient Engagement in Research Strategy, Founder of Five02 Labs Inc.
  • Dr. Rosemary Twomey, Associate Scientific Director CIHR-IMHA