The National Dental Practice-Based Research Network (NDPBRN) recently held the 2012-2013 South Atlantic Region Annual Meeting at the Hilton Hotel and Conference Center in Gainesville, Fla.
The meeting provided a chance for network members to interact with each other and to complete training necessary for in-office research study participation. Over 70 participants from the five network states, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, attended the meeting and received up to 6.5 hours of continuing education credits.
Valeria Gordan, D.D.S., M.S., regional director of the South Atlantic Region, and Joseph Riley III, Ph.D., deputy director of the South Atlantic Region, led a pre-conference meeting that included key NDPBRN members and select officials from the University of Florida including David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president for health affairs and president of the UF&Shands Health System; Teresa A. Dolan, D.D.S., M.P.H., dean of the UF College of Dentistry; David Nelson, M.D., director of the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and associate dean for Clinical Research; and Mike Conlon, Ph.D., associate director and chief operating officer of the UF CTSI.
In attendance from the NDPBRN were Don DeNucci, D.D.S., M.S., NIH-NIDCR program director for the Center for Clinical Research; Dena Fischer, D.D.S., M.S.D., M.S., NIH-NIDCR Director Clinical Research and Epidemiology Program, and Gregg Gilbert, D.D.S., director of the National and Regional Network, University of Alabama.
The pre-conference meeting with UF officials was an opportunity to share the practice-based research concept and discuss the possibilities of collaborations between the NDPBRN and the UF CTSI.
Gordan, a professor in the UF Department of Restorative Dental Sciences, opened the meeting and welcomed the attendees, following that DeNucci presented “History and Future: NIDCR Practice-Based Research Networks Designed to gather clinical evidence for the prevention and treatment of oral diseases.”
Several presentations were geared toward the orienting and training of clinicians. Deborah McEdward, research coordinator for the network, presented the requirements for participation in in-office research, Wajeeh Bajwa, Ph.D., director of Regulatory Knowledge and Support Program (CTSI), discussed good clinical practice with special emphasis on the guidelines necessary to conduct research in the South Atlantic Region of the network. B. Dianne Farb, Esq., associate university counsel for UF Research and Health Affairs, talked about research consent. Brenda Thacker, a research coordinator for the network, introduced all the forms required for in-office research participation. Discussion sessions followed all presentations to ensure practitioners’ questions were completely answered.
Breakout sessions which were lead by George Ford, D.M.D., a private practice dentist in Georgia and a member of the NDPBRN Executive Committee; Stanley Asensio, D.M.D., a private practitice dentist in Florida. Ford shared information about the network’s previous study “Repair and Replacement of Defective Restorations” and. Asensio presented the study findings from the network’s completed study “Patient Satisfaction with a Dental Restoration Visit.”
The afternoon agenda included round table, floor and panel discussions. Riley presented the final topic of the day by explaining how clinicians can refine a research question and design a study.