Benjamin Chaffee
University of California-San Francisco, CA·Public Health & Epidemiology
Gum disease and tooth decay are among the most common chronic diseases in people. Their roots often lie in social, economic and behavioral circumstances early in life.
- Fields
Public Health & Epidemiology
Medicine & Clinical Research
Social Science
- Topics
oral health
dental public health
oral diseases
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Apr 2028
What they work on
- Examine how socioeconomic stressors in early adulthood affect oral health over time in a cohort of 4,000 diverse first-year college students, and whether effects differ by race/ethnicity and gender.
- Test whether education-related opportunities such as academic engagement programs, basic needs supports and social capital protect students against poor oral health outcomes like gum inflammation and missed dental care.
- Assess whether health-related behaviors are the pathway linking economic stressors and college opportunities to oral health outcomes in the 3E emerging adult cohort.
More about the research
Emerging adulthood, the move from adolescence to adulthood, is a time when finances, social settings and habits shift. That makes it a promising window for prevention, yet oral health research has largely overlooked this stage.
Why it matters
Understanding what drives oral disease as it first emerges in young adults could guide more effective prevention programs and policies. This is especially true for students from disadvantaged or minoritized backgrounds. Such programs could reduce later problems such as tooth loss and narrow oral health inequalities.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Ryan Ruff
University of Pennsylvania, PA·Public Health & Epidemiology
Quantify the long-term caries-arresting effect of school-based silver diamine fluoride using CariedAway trial data, including the added benefit of repeat application and whether treating posterior teeth lowers new decay in anterior teeth.
Daniel Erchick
Johns Hopkins University, MD·Public Health & Epidemiology
Determine whether an early-pregnancy oral health package with antiseptic rinse, exams, hygiene training and supplies lowers the rate of small vulnerable newborns in a cluster-randomized trial of 2,280 pregnancies in rural Nepal.
Suzanna Martinez
University of California-San Francisco, CA·Public Health & Epidemiology
Test whether more chronic food insecurity, measured monthly for a year, predicts poorer cardiovascular and metabolic health over two years in a random cohort of 563 UC Santa Cruz students.
The school
University of California-San Francisco: 89 labs on PI Pages, $2.1B a year on research, 164 research doctorates a year.
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