UB dental school receives $7.3 million NIH grant to develop germ-free microbiome research facility

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine has received a $7.38 million grant from the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to create a new microbiome research facility.

The grant will fund the creation of a 4,000-square-foot facility in renovated space on the South Campus. Called the UB Microbiome Center Gnotobiotic Animal Research Facility, it will train scientists in how to use gnotobiotic (germ-free) mice for research and provide a safe and effective space for ongoing research into the oral microbiome. By studying the oral microbiome in depth, researchers can better understand systemic diseases.

“The human mouth hosts a vast number of microorganisms — more than 700 different species. The effects of the oral microbiome on human health and pathology have become increasingly clear over the past two decades,” said Keith Kirkwood, DDS, PhD, senior associate dean for research and Centennial Endowed Professor in the Department of Oral Biology, who is the principal investigator overseeing the renovation of the facility.

“The oral microbiome has been associated with systemic diseases ranging from inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer to osteoporosis and heart disease,” Kirkwood explained. “Studying mice in a germ-free environment will enable us to understand how to more effectively treat and, hopefully, move closer to cures for these often-intractable diseases.”

Serving as a regional facility

The NIH research grant marks one of only a handful of this type and amount awarded to a U.S. dental school.  Operational within five years, the facility will serve as the only one of its kind in the region and will be accessible to research teams throughout UB, including the School of Dental Medicine, the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, all other basic sciences and health sciences units at UB, along with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and other regional universities.

“Receiving an NIH grant of this magnitude speaks to UB’s reputation as one of the top research universities in the country and also to the dental school’s commitment to cutting-edge research,” said Marcelo Araujo, DDS, MS, PhD, dean of the dental school. “It will enable us to work closely with other disciplines across the university, as well as our community partners and other universities.”

There is a great need for this kind of facility in Western New York. The closest one is the Cleveland Clinic, about 350 miles away, noted Kirkwood, who oversaw the renovation of a similar facility at the Medical University of South Carolina where he served as a professor and associate dean for research in the dental school prior to returning to UB in 2017. Kirkwood began his academic career at UB an assistant professor of periodontics in 2000 before taking faculty positions with other institutions beginning in 2003.

Honoring ‘father of oral science’

The UB facility will build upon the capacities of the current Microbiome Center, which was established in 2012 by Robert J. Genco, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Oral Biology, Periodontics and Microbiology, who died in March 2019.

Lauded as the “father of oral science” Genco was widely considered the world’s leading periodontal disease researcher and a pioneer in advancing the understanding of oral health’s impact on overall health, Kirkwood noted. This new center will serve as a tribute to him.

Genco’s lab was responsible for numerous findings, including the identification of bacteria responsible for gum disease and determining that smoking, osteoporosis and stress are all risk factors for periodontal infections.

Since 2020, the center has been directed by Patricia Diaz, DDS, MS, PhD, SUNY Empire Innovation Professor in the dental school and the recently appointed Sunstar Robert J. Genco Endowed Chair. She and her team of researchers have been investigating the interactions between the oral microbiome and systemic disease.

“I’m extremely proud of all that Dr. Diaz and Dr. Kirkwood have already accomplished with the Microbiome Center since Dr. Genco’s passing,” Araujo said. “I know that this new facility will expand the center’s scope and help researchers move toward ameliorating devastating diseases and disorders that affect millions of Americans.”

Currently, the Microbiome Center has three separate research focuses: oral-systematic diseases, bacterial pathogenesis and microbial-associated cancer biology. Since its inception, the center has participated in a number of successful clinical trials, several of which have resulted in approval of products tested from the Federal Drug Administration (FDA).

Importance of a germ-free facility

The new facility will be a self-contained space with no bacteria or viruses. To study these microbes effectively, researchers prefer to use gnotobiotic animal models. If raised in a controlled environment where their microbial exposure is managed, the mice allow scientists to understand how different bacteria impact health in a more reliable way.

“The gnotobiotic facility would be transformative to these investigations allowing the interrogation of host-pathogen interactions in wild-type and genetically modified, germ-free animal models,” Kirkwood said.

UB is planning the facility in consultation with architectural and engineering firms with extensive experience in biomedical laboratory design and green design principles. Construction is expected to begin next year.

Along with Kirkwood, the project management team includes Jennifer Perick, DVM, the director of veterinary and laboratory animal services, who will serve as the facilities manager, and Paul Gareis, assistant director of facilities design and construction, who will serve as the project manager. The dental school also is working with consultants from Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Rutgers University to facilitate training of staff and faculty.

“When the facility is up and running, it will serve as a unique training ground for the next generation of scientists,” Kirkwood said. “Having access to this type of research will make them very competitive in their careers.”

Institutional commitment

Kirkwood noted that Venu Govindaraju, PhD, vice president for research and economic development at UB, and other top UB administrators, have provided unwavering support since the beginning talks about creating the facility.

“Establishing this new gnotobiotic research facility marks a pivotal era for UB and the field of oral epidemiology as a whole,” Govindaraju said. “It is a tribute to all scientists — past, present and future — whose work advances the understanding, treatment and management of diseases.”  

In addition, having this available at UB will facilitate future faculty recruitments, including endowed chairs, who have interest in this type of research, Kirkwood said.

 “When I think of this center, what comes to mind is the famous saying from 'Field of Dreams:' Build it and they will come,” Kirkwood said. “This facility will attract top-notch researchers from across the region and lead to crucial discoveries. In addition, its ability to move us into a new level of research would contribute to UB’s ambition to become one of the top 25 public research universities in the country.”

The project reported in this news release was supported by NIH/ORIP under the Grant Number 1C06OD037771. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NIH.