National Center for Dental Hygiene Research has a wealth of information

In keeping with our theme of EBC, I want to introduce you to the National Center for Dental Hygiene Research, www.usc.edu/hsc/dental/dhnet. The National Center has a wealth of information including professional education and clinical practice. There are links to slide presentations and tutorials available on the Internet.Let’s see what Dr. Ann Spolarich has to say about the National Center for Dental Hygiene Research:The National Center for Dental Hygiene Research and Practice is a virtual center housed at the University of Southern California. Originally, the Center was created through a federal grant program to train teams of dental hygienist investigators. Currently, the mission of the National Center for Dental Hygiene Research and Practice is to foster the development, organization and dissemination of oral health research, establish a research infrastructure for the profession, and to build a strong scientific basis for dental hygiene practice. The goals of the Center are to:1. Build a research infrastructure to establish dental hygiene as a profession2. Develop a community of dental hygiene researchers 3. Increase (internal and external) recognition as a research community4. Attain recognition as an authoritative source on dental hygiene practice behaviors5. Create and facilitate opportunities that promote leadership and scholarship6. Help guide research efforts that address the objectives of oral health research agendas7. Serve as a conduit to bring research to education and practice8. Promote the advancement of dental hygiene theory and knowledge9. Update the national dental hygiene research agenda to set priorities for dental hygiene research efforts.My colleague, Dr. Jane Forrest, Director of the Center, and I are planning numerous events to help foster and promote research to the dental hygiene community. Most notable is the upcoming Second North American Dental Hygiene Research Conference, scheduled Oct. 20-22, 2011, in Bethesda, Md. The research conference is designed to bring the global dental hygiene community together to:• Develop and refine research project conceptualization and grant writing skills • Share new knowledge obtained through research investigations • Explore how to translate research to practice in a meaningful and useful manner • Increase and diversify the number of individuals engaged in oral health research • Captivate, advance and nurture a cadre of dental hygiene researchers • Provide information about valid and useful research tools and resources • Provide workshops for ‘hands-on’ training in such areas as manuscript preparation, getting started in clinical research, and using emerging science that influences clinical practice • Promote the effective use of web-based technology for networking, collaborating, and disseminating research findingsThe conference will be of interest to all dental hygienists, regardless of work setting, and promises to showcase leading researchers from around the world and their original research contributions to grow our profession. Also, we are in the process of updating our Web site, so be sure to look for electronic and print communications about the new site and upcoming events. For more information about the Center, please contact us at [email protected] or [email protected].Let us hear from you! Our next issue of eVillage FOCUS will discuss Minimally Invasive Dentistry and remineralizing products.

Ann Eshenaur Spolarich, RDH, PhD, (left) is Clinical Associate Professor and Associate Director of the National Center for Dental Hygiene Research & Practice at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry at the University of Southern California.

Jane Forrest (right) is an Associate Professor of Clinical Dentistry and the Director of the National Center for Dental Hygiene Research & Practice at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of the University of Southern California.