Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry

Creating oral health innovations by leveraging emerging engineering approaches

CiPD unites Dental Medicine and Engineering for new collaborations in research, training, and entrepreneurship

Working together to make new discoveries, train future leaders and create affordable solutions

Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry Positions Penn as a Leader in Engineering Health

In the two years since the cross-disciplinary research partnership was founded, CiPD has introduced microrobots that clean teeth, a new understanding of microbial physics in tooth decay, and promising futures for plant biotechnology and lipid nanoparticles in dental plaque and oral cancer treatment.

Learn more in the recent press release from Penn Today>>

Read more at Penn Engineering Today>>

Access the published editorial in the Journal of Dental Research>>

Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry Positions Penn as a Leader in Engineering Health

Transforming the Future of Oral Health Care

Mission CIPD

CiPD Symposium Highlights Cutting-Edge Research

The 3rd Annual CiPD Symposium was held May 30, 2024 at Penn Dental Medicine. Cutting-edge research at the interface of dental medicine and engineering was in the spotlight. The program featured the latest research by CiPD faculty, trainees, and fellows. We learned about emerging applications, from craniofacial and tissue regeneration to oral microbiomes using advanced materials, nano/biotechnology, mRNA, AI and robotics.

Learn more in the recent press release

Review the Program Overview>>

CiPD Symposium Highlights Cutting-Edge Research

The CiPD is bridging Penn Dental Medicine and Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences with cutting-edge research and training to accelerate the development of new solutions and devices to address unmet needs in oral health, while also recruiting the next generation of leaders in these fields.

The CiPD bridges basic/translational researchers and clinicians with engineers and data scientists working in diverse fields. Their work ranges from robotics, AI and nanotechnology to diagnose and control oral diseases to developing a plant-based platform for affordable therapeutics. While biofilm microbiomes and regeneration of craniofacial tissues are being assessed using 3D bioprinting and organ-on-a-chip platforms.

The CiPD provides funding opportunities to study disease mechanisms and to accelerate innovative diagnostic and therapeutic solutions. Current programs include Pilot Fund and Fellowship Awards with topics ranging from COVID-19 and Artificial Intelligence in Dentistry to Oral Health Care Devices.

By leveraging the expertise in dental medicine and engineering sciences, the CiPD will train the next generation dentists, engineers and scientists with interdisciplinary skills. The training program focuses on mechanistic understanding of oral diseases/craniofacial disorders, precision diagnostics and affordable therapies targeted to susceptible populations.

NIDCR T90/R90 Postdoctoral Training Program »

CiPD-Colgate-Palmolive Fellowship »

Learn more about the CiPD Core Members, our postdoctoral trainees, and our partners »

Support

A gift to the Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry accelerates research into new tools to diagnose, treat and prevent diseases and otherwise address unmet oral health needs. There are various ways to make a contribution, including online.

Learn more and make a gift

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News & Events

CiPD Awards Accelerating Oral Health Innovations

The Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry (CiPD), Penn Dental Medicine’s joint center with Penn Engineering, is working to accelerate the development of oral health innovations through its growing number of awards, funding transdisciplinary research collaborations across the University.

Big Hopes for Little Teeth

For 75 years, NIDCR research has brought healthy smiles to children. What is the most common chronic disease in children? It’s tooth decay. Also known as cavities or caries, the condition is about five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever. Although tooth decay is preventable, it still affects nearly 46% of children in the U.S.

AADOCR Member Spotlight: Marshall Padilla, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Dr. Marshall Padilla received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the College of William & Mary and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Currently, he is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Bioengineering Department in the Mitchell Lab as well as a member of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry, where he recently finished a T90 fellowship. At the 2024 AADOCR Annual Meeting, he won the Postdoctoral Hatton Award Competition for his work on multitherapeutic lipid nanoparticles for oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Bacteria and Fungi Can ‘Walk’ across the Surface of Our Teeth

Clusters of bacteria and fungi seem to be capable of complex movement, setting tooth decay in motion. Most of us would rather not think about the cavity-causing microbes infesting our mouths. They coat our teeth, eat the same sugars we do and excrete acids that carve holes in our enamel. And the complete picture is even grosser. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA shows that conglomerations of fungi and bacteria can work together to “walk” and “leap” across the surface of teeth, spreading decay much faster than either organism alone.

CiPD-Colgate Fellowship Advancing Research, Supporting Rising Clinician Scientists

The Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry (CiPD)-Colgate Fellowship is advancing research and continuing to support the development of clinicians scientists at Penn Dental Medicine. Since its launch in 2017, there have been four recipients of the Fellowship. Funded by the Colgate-Palmolive Company, the Fellowship provides financial support to students engaged in postdoctoral research studies at Penn Dental Medicine and Penn Engineering focused on childhood dental caries and novel anti-biofilm approaches to promote oral health.

Nanorobotic system presents new options for targeting fungal infections

Researchers from Penn Dental and Penn Engineering have developed a new way to rapidly and precisely eradicate fungal infections in the mouth by using nanorobots guided by magnets.

More news »

CiPD

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