Nine U.S. universities are collaborating on a five-year, $17-million research initiative aimed at improving the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), following a major grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The multi-institution project, funded through the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), brings together researchers across dentistry, medicine, neuroscience, bioinformatics and data science. It is described as the largest collaborative NIH effort to date focused specifically on TMDs, according to the University at Buffalo, one of the participating institutions.
TMDs encompass roughly 30 chronic conditions affecting the jaw joint and surrounding muscles. They impact about 10 per cent of the adult population, with women disproportionately affected.
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Five University at Buffalo researchers
Five University at Buffalo researchers are involved in the study, known as the Collaborative for REsearch to Advance TMD Evidence (CREATE), which forms part of the broader TMD IMPACT research network. The project will analyze clinical, behavioural and biological data from 1,000 individuals with TMDs and 300 control participants across five research sites.
“The causes of TMDs are still not completely understood,” said Richard Ohrbach, a professor of oral diagnostic sciences at the University at Buffalo and a principal investigator on the study, alongside Sonia Sharma, an assistant professor of medicine at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
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“When pain disorders are complex, difficult to diagnose and affect essential behavioural functions, patients often face stigma, barriers to care and inappropriate treatment,” Ohrbach said. “Through this study, we aim to improve diagnosis, advance prevention strategies, develop personalized therapies and expand the research workforce.”
Other principal investigators are based at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Florida and Texas A&M University. Additional partner institutions include Missouri State University, UT Health Houston, Colorado State University, the HealthPartners Institute and the TMJ Association, a patient advocacy organization.
Researchers say the collaborative approach is designed to break down disciplinary silos and accelerate progress in managing chronic orofacial pain conditions, including those that overlap with other chronic pain disorders.