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Monday Roundtable Luncheon
Aderonke Akinkugbe, DDS, MPH, PhD
Assistant Professor
Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Dentistry
Sarah Raskin, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Virginia Commonwealth University
Sarah Jane Brubaker, PhD
Associate Professor
Virginia Commonwealth University
Tegwyn Brickhouse, DDS, PhD
Associate Professor
Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Dentistry
This roundtable is aimed at introducing participants to a new initiative at VCU, the Institute for Inclusion, Inquiry and Innovation (iCubed) as further demonstration of VCU’s commitment to community-engaged research and partnerships. The rationale behind the formation of iCubed are discussed and a companion roundtable discusses several newly formed oral health community engaged partnerships. iCubed was inaugurated 2.5 years ago to broaden VCU’s tradition of excellence in community engaged research. iCubed’s overarching goal is to form partnerships between University faculty and the community to solve urban challenges under four major themes: 1) Broaden access to education for students of diverse backgrounds; 2) Create an inclusive environment for diverse faculty; 3) Be a catalyst between the University community and the community at large; 4) Foster innovative research and solutions to societal problems. There are currently 5 transdisciplinary cores among which is the Oral Health in Childhood and Adolescence core. The Oral Health Core is transdisciplinary, with expertise in Dental Public Health, Epidemiology, Anthropology, Psychology, Health Administration and Public Policy. This core seeks to identify and remove the educational, political, psychological, social and nutritional barriers to prevention and treatment of dental caries in the children and adolescents of Richmond, VA. Since its formation, the oral health core has built partnerships with key stakeholders. At the end of this roundtable, participants will 1) understand the necessity for transdisciplinary teams for dental public health community engagements 2) understand the steps to forming transdisciplinary teams 3) learn how to engage with key community stakeholders.