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Research Funding

TOTAL SPONSORED AWARDS - State FY 24                                                                                 TOTAL FEDERAL AWARDS - State FY 24
$217.3 MILLION                                                                                                                                $132.8 MILLION


OU Health Sciences has achieved its highest-ever ranking in the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research rankings, reaching No. 102 nationally for NIH funding—a 27-spot climb in two years—placing it among the top 3.6% of institutions receiving NIH support. With $75.2 million in NIH funding in FY2024, this recognition reflects the dedication of faculty, researchers, and staff in advancing biomedical and clinical research that improves patient outcomes and strengthens the university’s impact. 


University of Oklahoma Dental Biomaterials Research Benefits from New Imaging Capabilities

University of Oklahoma Dental Biomaterials Research Benefits from New Imaging Capabilities


Published: Thursday, September 28, 2023

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA. – A multidisciplinary team of researchers recently received a $33.6 million grant from the Department of Energy’s Basic Energy Sciences program to construct a novel imaging platform that could advance discoveries in medicine, dentistry, materials science, and engineering.

The team is led by principal investigator Adrian Brügger, Ph.D., the director of the Robert A. W. Carleton Strength of Materials Laboratory, and faculty in the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University. Fernando Luis Esteban Florez, D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D., a tenured associate professor and head of the Division of Dental Biomaterials at the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry, is the leader of the project’s medical and dental applications team.

The project is known as CUPI2D, short for “Complex, Unique and Powerful Imaging Instrument for Dynamics.” The funding from the Department of Energy will support the instrument’s construction at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“CUPI2D could have a transformative impact on scientific studies such as energy storage and conversion such as for batteries and fuel cells, engineering materials, including additive manufacturing and advanced superalloys, as well as biological, medical and dental applications,” Esteban Florez said. “The instrument will integrate a number of traditional and novel techniques that will advance the fields of medicine and dentistry because it will reveal how complex mechanics impact the fate and longevity of different types of biomaterials used in both fields. This will positively influence the development of novel biomaterials with long-term antibacterial and biomimetic properties.”

Current dental biomaterials cannot remain antibacterial for extended periods of time, meaning most can only be used for as little as a few weeks up to a few months. Esteban Florez and collaborators with the Center for Nanophase and Materials Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed an antimicrobial nanofilled dental adhesive resin that is a breakthrough discovery toward advancing broadscale development of longer-lasting dental biomaterials that can make significant impacts on oral health. This collaborative effort generated three international patents and has been published in six high-impact factor peer-reviewed academic journals, including two Scientific Reports published in the esteemed journal Nature.

About the Research

Corresponding published research includes:

  • Hong Q, Pierre-Bez AC, Kury M, Curtis ME, Hiers RD, Esteban Florez FL, Mitchell JC. Shear Bond Strength and Color Stability of Novel Antibacterial Nanofilled Dental Adhesive Resins. Nanomaterials. 2023; 13(1):1. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13010001
  • Hiers RD, Huebner P, Khajotia SS, Florez FLE. Characterization of Experimental Nanoparticulated Dental Adhesive Resins with Long-Term Antibacterial Properties. Nanomaterials. 2022; 12(21):3732. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12213732
  • Esteban Florez, F.L., Kraemer, H., Hiers, R.D. et al. Sorption, solubility and cytotoxicity of novel antibacterial nanofilled dental adhesive resins. Sci Rep 10, 13503 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70487-z
  • Esteban Florez, F.L., Trofimov, A.A., Ievlev, A. et al. Advanced characterization of surface-modified nanoparticles and nanofilled antibacterial dental adhesive resins. Sci Rep 10, 9811 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-66819-8
  • Fernando Luis Esteban Florez, Rochelle Denise Hiers, Yan Zhao, Justin Merritt, Adam Justin Rondinone, Sharukh Soli Khajotia, Optimization of a real-time high-throughput assay for assessment of Streptococcus mutans metabolism and screening of antibacterial dental adhesives, Dental Materials, Volume 36, Issue 3, 2020, Pages 353-365, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dental.2019.12.007.
  • Fernando Luis Esteban Florez, Rochelle Denise Hiers, Preston Larson, Matthew Johnson, Edgar O'Rear, Adam J. Rondinone, Sharukh Soli Khajotia, Antibacterial dental adhesive resins containing nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide nanoparticles, Materials Science and Engineering: C, Volume 93, 2018, Pages 931-934, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2018.08.060

Research Newsletter

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May 19, 2025, Newsletter 

This Week's Documents to Download and Full Newsletter
Announcements

TSET Legacy Grants are due on Monday, June 16th by Noon.  Due to the number of OUHSC applicants ALL TSET Legacy Grants will have a five (5) day deadline for submission to ORA for review.

They will be due to ORA no later than Noon on Monday, June 9th.  Applications will be reviewed in the order they are received.

An Important Note from ORA – this is to notify the campus that the GRANTS team in ORA is currently three people short.  

Please be patient and ensure your applications are submitted on time as required while we work through all proposals/requests and acquire new team members

WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS

The next Oklahoma Data Science Workshop is next Friday May 23 at noon via Zoom. This is the Zoom link:

https://oklahoma.zoom.us/j/94661289236?pwd=WHdLYkRhMHFFQmlPUHhqQU1uNDRoZz09&from=addon

Title: "OU IT Research Computing Capabilities Update"

Speaker: Henry Neeman, PhD, Director of OSCER (the OU supercomputing center)

Abstract: The OU Supercomputing Center for Education & Research (OSCER), a division of OU Information Technology, provides machines and people to facilitate OU researchers' computing/data-intensive investigations.  In this talk, we'll walk through OSCER's resources, and give an update on extant, emerging and planned capabilities. This will include a discussion of GPUs, especially for AI, and interactive access options such as Open OnDemand and OURcloud.

The Native Nations Center for Tribal Policy Research (NNCTPR), would like to announce an event that the NNCTPR, in collaboration with Tana Fitzpatrick, Associate Vice President of Tribal Relations, and the Center for Faculty Excellence will host as part of our Ethical Tribal Engagement Series. This event will be held on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 12:00 to 1:30 at the Robert M. Bird Library Inasmuch Foundation Atrium room on the OUHSC campus as well as virtually. This ETE traveling event will be offered as part of the Improving Cancer Outcomes in Native American Communities (ICON) Grant. See attachment for additional information.

The Department of Pediatrics and College of Medicine is presenting a national award, The Patricia Price Browne Prize in Biomedical Ethics Award, on Wednesday, May 21st, at Pediatric Grand Rounds, 12:15-1:15 p.m. 

See attached flyer for additional information.  

Inaugural Annual Neurology Research Symposium – Hosted by the Department of Neurology, University of Oklahoma, School of Medicine – Date & Location: Friday, June 13, 2025, at the Basic Sciences Education Building (West Lecture Hall).

This year’s theme is Vascular Cognitive Impairment (VCI), with a keynote lecture by Farzaneh A. Sorond, MD, alongside presentations from leading researchers in the field. The event will include panel sessions, oral and poster presentations, and networking opportunities.

Visit for more information: https://medicine.ouhsc.edu/academic-departments/neurology/neurology-symposium

Registration is now open – https://medicine.ouhsc.edu/academic-departments/neurology/neurology-symposium/registration