Overview
VCU School of Dentistry and the Philips Institute is ranked 7th nationally among public dental schools in National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding, according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.
In 2025, the school received more than $7.5 million from the NIH to advance a wide range of oral health and biomedical research, nearly a $1 million increase from 2024.
There are 15 principle investigators supported by 45 research professors, postdocs, PhD students, and lab staff.
We offer two graduate programs, OHR PhD program with concentrations in cancer, and infection and immunology and a MS In Microbiology and Immunology
We utilize the oral cavity as an easily accessible model system to understand cancer, and viral and microbial infections. Cancer biologists are focusing on basic cancer biology, viral oncogenesis, and the development of personalized cancer treatments. Microbiologists and immunologists are exploring the role of chronic inflammation in infectious diseases and cancer and identifying bacterial virulence factors that may be used to target bacteria and prevent disease.
We are co-located and have active collaborations with the Massey Cancer Center, an NCI designated cancer center, the VCU School of Medicine, and the VCU School of Dentistry .
Access to new technologies
Within the Philip's Institute, we can use advanced microscopy techniques to track changes in cell and tissue growth and morphology and track how diseased tissue responds to new treatments.
Using cell sorting systems, we can analyze thousands of cells at once, enabling the study of complex immune cell populations within tumors, the isolation of rare subtypes, and evaluation of how cancer cells and viral or microbial infections interact with the immune system.
Using laser microdissection and multiplex immunofluorescence, we can isolate tissues and visualize gene and protein expression at a single-cell level. This spatial biology approach helps us understand the complexity and dysregulation of tissue organization in infected or cancerous tissue. These technologies can help predict patients' response to treatments and should lead to advances in personalized medicine.
Students will also have access to all of the university wide research cores including Center for the Biological Data Science, The VCU Center for Drug Discovery, and the Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center.