Global oral health leaders gather in Saskatoon

The University of Saskatchewan (USask) College of Dentistry welcomed researchers, educators and academic leaders from around the world in mid-June as it hosted the 2026 INSPiRE Oral Health Symposium.

The annual gathering brought together 55 participants, including 25 attending in-person in Saskatoon and 30 joining online, representing six countries: Canada, Brazil, Portugal, South Africa, China and New Zealand.

The symposium provided a forum for members of the INSPiRE Oral Health Consortium to strengthen international partnerships, share knowledge and explore collaborative approaches to advancing oral health education and research.

Throughout the event, participants engaged in discussions on a range of topics shaping the future of oral health, including grant strategies and collaborative funding opportunities, global perspectives on dental school innovation, interdisciplinary research clusters, and sustainability strategies for oral health education and care.

A key theme of the symposium was the importance of international collaboration in addressing complex oral health challenges. By bringing together diverse perspectives and areas of expertise, consortium members identified opportunities to create meaningful impacts for students, faculty and communities around the world.

One of the featured sessions focused on grant strategies and explored ways to strengthen global collaboration within the consortium. Participants examined multinational research opportunities, mapped potential funding sources, identified shared priorities and partnerships, and discussed actionable steps to support joint funding initiatives and long-term research impact.

INSPiRE stands for International Network of Strategic Partners for Research Excellence.  The Oral Health Consortium was established in 2024 through a partnership among four leading institutions: the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, Peking University in China, the Catholic University of Portugal in Portugal, and the University of São Paulo in Brazil.

The founding universities united around a shared vision to advance innovative research in oral health and related disciplines. By combining expertise and resources across continents, the consortium aims to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, drive scientific discovery and translate research findings into meaningful improvements in oral health worldwide.

The consortium is distinguished as the only initiative of its kind with truly global representation focused on advancing oral health through international collaboration.

In addition to supporting research, the consortium is committed to enriching academic development by promoting student mobility through joint educational programs, exchanges and scholarship opportunities among member institutions.

The consortium expanded in 2025 with the addition of the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Otago in New Zealand and the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. The expansion further strengthened the consortium’s international reach and enhanced its ability to address pressing oral health challenges through collaborative research and knowledge exchange.

The first INSPiRE Oral Health Symposium was held in 2025 in Beijing, China, and hosted by Peking University. The inaugural event marked an important milestone for the consortium, bringing together researchers, faculty and students to share knowledge, foster collaboration and establish future directions for the partnership.

Building on that foundation, the 2026 symposium in Saskatoon reinforced the consortium’s commitment to advancing oral health through global engagement and collective action.

The next annual symposium will be held in 2027 in São Paulo, Brazil, hosted by the University of São Paulo, where consortium members will continue to expand collaborative initiatives and explore new opportunities to advance oral health research and education worldwide.