The University of Texas
Dental Branch at Houston A Part of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

The new Dental Branch building (above) will be adjacent and connected to the new Biomedical Research and Education Facility. Both will be part of the UT Research Park currently under construction.

Funding Boost:
UTHSC-H Commits to $155M for New Dental School

By Rhonda Moran, UTDB Communication Specialist

Pending approval by The University of Texas System Board of Regents, funding for the UT Dental Branch's new building will be increased to $155 million in what is believed to be the largest single-project capital outlay ever for the UT Health Science Center at Houston.

"After discussions with Dean Flaitz, faculty and students, as well as my own first-hand impressions of the current building, I wholeheartedly endorse moving ahead with the new building to house the Dental Branch, and I will devote my full effort to secure the additional funding," said UTHSC-H President Larry R. Kaiser, M.D.

Catherine Flaitz, D.D.S, dean of the UT Dental Branch, said the increased funding "shows the health science center's strong commitment to having the best dental school possible. We are most grateful to Dr. Kaiser for actively listening to our vision, visiting the present facility and responding in such a supportive way by allocating these new funds to the building project. "

When the Board of Regents and the Texas Legislature give final approval for the proposed increase, support for the new building will include $71 million in tuition revenue bonds, $63 million in Permanent University Funds, and $21 million in local funding. The increased commitment will allow the project to proceed in one continuous phase that will be less disruptive of day-to-day operations of the school, Flaitz said. UTDB's Executive Associate Dean John A. Valenza, D.D.S., said the increased funding is a tremendous boost for the project, but to realize the full vision for the new school, the Dental Branch will need help from philanthropy. "Alumni, foundations and other fund-raising sources will have a huge impact in helping us

To help complete the building as proposed, the Dental Branch has established an estimated philanthropic goal of $20 million, with approval from UTHSC-H. John Greer, development director at the Dental Branch, said the school already has raised $5.25 million for the building through the Open to Health fundraising initiative, which also seeks financial support for new scholarships, professorial endowments, community outreach efforts and dental research. The building plans are still undergoing revision, but some highlights include:

• Dental Branch researchers will occupy the fourth floor in the Biomedical Research and Education Facility (BREF), and more research space is being negotiated. The BREF will connect to the Dental Branch Replacement Building (DBRB) via hallways. Current plans call for the Houston Biomaterials Research Center and UTDB's oral pathology labs to be in the BREF.
• Approximately 32,000 square feet in the DBRB may be designated as shell space for future use as clinical operatories, faculty alcoves with computer stations in the clinic, a small clinical lab, clinical conference rooms, one patient waiting area and a preclinical lab. Valenza noted, however, that as fundraising progresses, these shelled spaces may be completely built out by the time the building opens.
• Under the current plan, all satellite clinics (Advanced Education in General Dentistry/General Practice Residency, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Pediatric Dentistry) will remain off site.
• In the new building, UTDB admissions will increase from 84 to 100 DDS students per year, and modest increases are planned in the size of the post-graduate dental programs.
• Surface parking will be provided initially.

Flaitz said the new building will be a core facility to build on, and the Dental Branch will have a list of high priority projects ready to go as additional funding becomes available.

The new building will be located in the UT Research Park currently under construction in the southern part of the Texas Medical Center south of Old Spanish Trail near Cambridge Street. Other facilities in the Research Park will include the BREF, the Neuroscience Building and the Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging Research (CABIR), which is a joint project of the UTHSC and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, in cooperation with GE Healthcare and the Texas Enterprise Fund.