UNILAG, Iowa university partner in $10,000 dental health research | EduCeleb
EduCeleb
30th January 2020
A partnership between the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and the University of Iowa would see academics from both schools broaden research and development in the field of dental health.
The University of Iowa International Programs awarded Azeez Butali and  Maria Hernandez a Global Research Partnership Award.
Dr Butali is an associate professor in the Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology, and Medicine, while Dr Hernandez is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Family Dentistry and chair of the International Affairs and Programs Committee at the college.
According to a press release by Iowa, these awards are intended to “help initiate new or expand existing international partnerships and to generate pilot data, with the goal of developing a sustainable research relationship and laying the groundwork for externally funded programs.”
The award particularly includes funds of up to $10,000 and will help strengthen the ongoing research partnership between the Iowa university in America and UNILAG in Nigeria.
Through it, academics from the Faculty of Dental Sciences at the University of Lagos will visit the University of Iowa for 8 weeks and work in the Butali lab on genetics and genomics of orofacial clefts with the aim of generating preliminary data in orofacial clefts research for our future NIH grants.
While there, these visiting lecturers will also serve as resource person for dental students at Iowa by interacting with them through a series of oral presentations and one-on-one sessions organized by the International Affairs and Programs Committee at the College of Dentistry.
Dr Hernandez is representing the International Affairs and Programs Committee as a co-investigator on the award.
The university added that the partnership will help Iowa dental students, faculty and staff to learn about the practice of dentistry in developing countries. It will also expose the dental community to international experiences, broaden the global perspective of the College of Dentistry, and open opportunities for mission trips and other collaboration efforts.