# Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Tissue Regeneration Consortium (DOCTRC): An infrastructure for accelerating regenerative therapies from discovery to clinical impact

## TL;DR

The DOCTRC consortium helps bridge the gap between scientific discoveries in tissue regeneration and their clinical application, particularly in dental and craniofacial medicine.

## Contribution

DOCTRC introduces a translational model to accelerate regenerative therapies from research to clinical use through coordinated resource centers and interdisciplinary teams.

## Key findings

- DOCTRC's model supports preclinical validation of promising DOC technologies from academic and small business sources.
- The framework emphasizes non-dilutive funding and product development strategies to overcome regulatory and market barriers.
- DOCTRC's approach offers a scalable solution for advancing regenerative therapies in biomedical fields beyond DOC.

## Abstract

Translating scientific discoveries in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TE/RM) into clinically adopted therapies is hindered by fragmented development pipelines, regulatory and manufacturing challenges, and limited funding. Despite substantial investment by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), few NIH-funded TE/RM projects achieve commercialization or regulatory approval by the US Food and Drug Administration. The gap between academic innovation and clinical implementation is particularly evident in the dental, oral, and craniofacial (DOC) domain, where market and reimbursement constraints further restrict translation. To address these barriers, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research established the Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Tissue Regeneration Consortium (DOCTRC), comprising two nationwide Resource Centers tasked with guiding promising technologies from universities and small businesses through preclinical validation toward clinical adoption. This translational science case study outlines DOCTRC’s translational model, highlighting lessons learned from five cohorts of interdisciplinary translational project teams, strategies for navigating manufacturing and regulatory pathways, and approaches for aligning academic innovation with clinical and market needs. The unique impact of the DOCTRC framework demonstrates how disciplined product development activities, non-dilutive funding mechanisms, and a comprehensive support ecosystem can accelerate technology translation, offering a scalable model for other biomedical fields.