In January 2023, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) in partnership with other elements of the National Institutes of Health, and also the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, announced the availability of funding for the design and implementation of a national, interdisciplinary, patient-centered research collaborative. The aim of the TMD Collaborative for IMproving PAtient-Centered Translational Research (TMD IMPACT) is to advance basic, translational, and clinical research to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Temporomandibular Disorders. The TMJ Association and its patient advocates have been engaged in this initiative since the outset ensuring that the voices and needs of patients with Temporomandibular Disorders (TMDs) are heard.
By way of background, TMDs reflect more than 30 conditions that can cause debilitating pain and dysfunction in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), chewing muscles, and surrounding tissues. Five to ten percent of the U.S. population are affected and TMDs are twice as common in women than in men. TMDs are driven by a complex interplay of biological, psychological, and environmental factors, defying scientists’ understanding of all the underlying mechanisms, confounding medical and dental professionals, and often resulting in delayed, ineffective, and even harmful treatments. The complexity of TMDs calls for a coordinated and multilevel approach to address them.
The planning grants will enable institutions to develop the partnerships, infrastructure, and capabilities to address the goals of the collaborative. They are also intended to enhance their competitiveness to secure funding for the future collaborative. Grant Award Recipients In October 2023, NIDCR awarded nine planning grants totaling $2.8 million for one year of support to the following investigators: - Gary D. Slade and Anne E. Sanders, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill PUFA Metabolism for Prevention and Treatment of TMD Pain: An Interdisciplinary, Translational Approach
- Yang Chai and Jianfu Chen, University of Southern California Center for TMD IMPACT
- Julie K. Olson, University of Minnesota The Minnesota TMD IMPACT Collaborative: Integrating Basic/Clinical Research Efforts and Training to Improve Clinical Care
- Fernando Guastaldi and Shruti Handa, Massachusetts General Hospital Boston Collaborative for TMD Research
- Alejandro Jose Almarza and Roger B. Fillingim, University of Pittsburgh Collaborative for REsearch to Advance TMD Evidence (CREATE)
- Richard Ohrbach and Keith L. Kirkwood, State University of New York at Buffalo Traumatic Events and Injury: Etiologic Mechanisms for Temporomandibular Disorders
- Hai Yao and Janice S. Lee, Clemson University TMJ SYMPHONY Systems-Integrated Model and Mechanisms of Patient-Centered Holistic Outcomes and Network-Supported Training and Therapy
- Sunil D. Kapila, University of California, Los Angeles Interdisciplinary Clinical Advances and Research Excellence in TMDs (ICARE 4 TMDs) Collaborative
- Alexandre DaSilva, David H. Kohn, and Yuji Mishina, University of Michigan Michigan Collaborative Hub for TMD Patient-Centric Research (MICH T PCR)
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