Dental Asia January/February 2024

DENTAL UPDATES
New Government Dental College and
Hospital opens in Chennai, India
Chief minister of Tamil Nadu M K Stalin
inaugurated the new Government Dental
College and Hospital in the Pudukkottai
district of the city of Chennai over a video
conference on 15 Nov 2023.
Construction of the site began on 21 Oct
2021 and was expected to be completed
by 15 Jul 2023, prior to the inauguration.
According to the Times of India, the
facility cost Rs67.83m (US$8.15m) and the
government provided equipment worth
Rs51m (US$0.61m).
The campus of the Government
Dental College and Hospital includes
administrative buildings, outpatient
quarters for students and staff, buildings
for academic activities and dining blocks.
In addition, the new facility will have
a faculty of six professors, 11 associate
professors, 30 assistant professors and 102
non-teaching staff according to DT Next.
The college admitted 50 BDS students in
August 2023 after it was accredited by the
Dental Council of India earlier in May.
The facility is said to be the third state-run dental
college hospital in the state of Tamil Nadu (Image:
The Hindu)
Chief minister Stalin will further
inaugurate 17 primary health centres and
subcentres while the state government
will also inaugurate 152 wellness centres
by December 2023, 40 of which will be in
Chennai. The current estimated population
of Chennai city is 6,407,000 with its
metropolitan population estimated at
11,933,000. DA
Align Technology opens 2024 Annual Research Award
Programme with US$300,000 in awards
Align Technology recently announced
the opening of its 2024 Annual Research
Award Programme which aims to support
clinical and scientific dental research in
universities across the globe.
Up to US$300,000 will be awarded to
university staff members for scientific
and technological research initiatives
to advance patient care in the fields
of orthodontics and dentistry. Align
Technology’s Research Award Programme
has funded approximately $3m in research
since the its inception in 2010.
“This programme is an exciting opportunity
for university researchers globally to
expand scientific and clinical learnings to
elevate patient care. We look forward to
the topics and research studies that may
ultimately improve treatment outcomes
and the quality of life for more patients
worldwide,” said Align senior vice-president
of global clinical, Dr Mitra Derakhshan.
Awards available for dental research at
universities are available in the three
regions: the Americas (US, Canada, Mexico,
Central and South America) with four
one-year awards of up to $25,000 each, the
EMEA region with four one-year awards of
up to $25,000 each, and the APAC region
with four one-year awards of up to $25,000
each.
“Once again, we anticipate receiving
a large number of applications to this
research programme. The topics submitted
throughout the past years have been
diverse and often on the forefront of
(Image: Ani Kolleshi/ Unsplash)
the dental field. Align Technology is
proud to fund this research program
with the purpose of improving dental
care throughout the world,” said Align
vice-president, product innovation and
technical fellow, John Morton.
Eligible applicants for dental research
awards include full-time and part-time
faculty involved in dental or scientific
research at universities where Invisalign
treatment or the iTero scanner is available.
Research proposals and completed
applications must be received by 5pm
Pacific Time on 8 Mar 2024, and award
recipients will be notified by 3 Jun 2024.
All applications are reviewed by an
independent academic committee that
forwards its recommendations to Align for
final selection. Consideration will be given
to first-time applications from a university
programme.
Award recipients for the 2023 programme
includes the University of Washington for
the Americas, UniCamillus, International
Medical University for EMEA, and Sichuan
University for APAC. DA
DENTAL ASIA JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2024
7