Month: December 2025

The Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Tissue Regeneration Consortium (DOCTRC) is a national initiative established in 2017  from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) to advance regenerative therapies from preclinical development to clinical adoption. The 6th Annual DOCTRC Joint Retreat was held December 9–10, 2025, at the USC Health Sciences Conference Center in Los Angeles, CA, and was jointly hosted by the Center for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Tissue and Organ Regeneration (C-DOCTOR) and the Translational Resource Center (TRC). The retreat brought together interdisciplinary translational project (ITP) teams across the DOCTRC portfolio, along with consortium leadership, external advisors, invited experts, and NIH/NIDCR program officials. The meeting focused on fostering collaboration while highlighting progress toward preclinical milestones, regulatory readiness, and commercialization of novel dental, oral, and craniofacial therapies. Supported by NIDCR through NIH Awards U24DE029462 and U24DE029463, DOCTRC maintains a diverse portfolio of ITPs spanning soft tissue regeneration, bone repair, dental pulp regeneration, nerve repair, and salivary gland restoration. Projects across the portfolio are advancing along IND, IDE, and 510(k) regulatory pathways, underscoring the consortium’s commitment to translational rigor and FDA engagement. The retreat program featured several expert-led sessions focused on commercialization and regulatory strategy. The workshop “Milestones & Mindsets Across the Founder Journey” was led by Rosemary Kiser, PhD, Tariq Warsi, PhD, Harriet Posner, JD, Gila Jones, JD, Robby Lane, MBA, and Chelsea Bahney, PhD, and addressed key challenges in product development, entrepreneurship, and company formation. The session “Science, Startups, and Success” had presentations by Thomas Chen, MD, PhD, and Zhen Xu, PhD, and breakout discussions highlighting pathways for translating scientific discovery into successful startups. A dedicated regulatory session titled “FDA Phase-Out of Animal Testing Requirements” was presented by Erika Fernandez, BPharm, MSc, RAC, providing timely insights into evolving FDA expectations and their impact on translational research strategies. Across two days, ITP presentations, networking events, and structured discussions enabled direct feedback between project teams, DOCTRC leadership, and NIDCR staff. Closed-door discussions among DOCTRC leadership, the External Advisory Board, and NIH representatives supported strategic planning for the next phase of the consortium and alignment of current project needs with future expansion opportunities. Through the 6th Annual Joint Retreat, DOCTRC reaffirmed its mission to accelerate innovative regenerative therapies toward clinical translation and broad adoption, while strengthening collaboration across its interdisciplinary translational ecosystem.