Dr. Azeez Butali, of dental research and oral pathology, radiology, and medicine, has received a three-year, $597,645 Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust grant to develop a biorepository for oral health and disease research. The award will support the collection of 12,500 biological samples that will include saliva, teeth, oral tissues, and dental and medical information from 10,000 individuals. The biorepository will combine biological materials and dental and medical records; establish a fully integrated medical, genetic, and dental patient record to improve the quality of patient care and enhance broader quality research across the university's medical and dental facilities; and make the data and biological materials available to UI researchers and other collaborators for conducting ground-breaking research, delivering personalized precision medicine, and improving patients' health.

Butali is principal investigator. Arwa Owais, of pediatric dentistry, and Veerasathpurush Allareddy, of orthodontics, are co-principal investigators.