Project Grant R15DE031929

This Project Grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the Department of Health and Human Services, will fund research into the genetic basis of human skeletal facial morphology through July 2025. Provided under the Oral Diseases and Disorders Research program (CFDA 93.121), the $936,510 in funding will support two key aims.

First, the awardee will enhance current mesh landmarking procedures for craniofacial bone by developing a dense quasi-landmark map to generate a skeletal facial mask template. This will allow efficient landmarking of craniofacial bone structure using registration software. Second, the awardee will utilize a new collection of 750 cone beam computed tomography facial scans to connect soft tissue and hard tissue landmarks. This will ensure each facial structure serves as a covariate for the other when performing genetic association testing on over 350 candidate genes for human facial variation. The work will advance understanding of normal-range craniofacial variation by more precisely characterizing phenotype-genotype associations after correcting for bone and soft tissue influences. It will also generate soft tissue thickness measurements at quasi-landmarks. Sub-awardee Indiana University Iupui will support the aims' execution and analysis.