At its heart, COHRA is a research project that aims to identify factors that contribute to the burden of dental problems, and oral health disparities, in children and their families in our state, and throughout Appalachia, and thus to select the most promising areas for intervention. 

​

In all of the COHRA projects, we are assessing a broad array of factors that lead to health and disease, particularly in the realm of oral health.  Our areas of investigation include genetics, psychosocial factors (including maternal/postpartum depression, among others), microbiological indices, water quality, degree of rurality, and many more.

​

The COHRA bibliography, which can be found HERE includes over 125 refereed journal articles publications and chapters and almost 200 conference presentations produced by the COHRA team about Appalachian health.

​

Selected papers are presented here in various domains of interest for COHRA.

 

Oral Health in Appalachia

​

McNeil, D. W., Crout, R. J., & Marazita, M. L. (2012).  Oral health in Appalachia.  In L. Ludke & P. J. Obermiller (Eds.), Appalachian health and well-being (pp. 275-294). Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

​

COHRA1 Protocol

​

Polk, D. E., Weyant, R. J., Crout, R. J., McNeil, D. W. Tarter, R. E., Thomas, J. G., & Marazita, M. L. (2008). Study protocol of the Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia (COHRA) etiology study.  BioMed Central: Oral Health, 8, 18. [PMID: 18522740; PMCID: PMC2443132; doi: 10.1186/1472-6831-8-18]

​

COHRA2

​

Neiswanger, K., McNeil, D. W., Foxman, B., Govil, M., Cooper, M. E., Weyant,R. J., Shaffer, J. R., Crout, R. J., Simhan, H. N., Beach, S.R., Chapman. S, Zovko, J. G., Brown, L. J., Strotmeyer, S. J., Maurer, J. L., & Marazita, M. L (2015). Oral health in a sample of pregnant women from northern Appalachia (2011-2015). International Journal of Dentistry, 2015, 1-12. [PMID: 26089906; PMCID: PMC4451284; doi: 10.1155/2015/469376]

 

Genetics

​

Randall, C. L., McNeil, D. W., Shaffer, J. R., Crout, R. J., Weyant, R. J., & Marazita, M. L. (2016). Fear of pain mediates the association between MC1R genotype and dental fear. Journal of Dental Research, 95, 1132-1137. [PMID: 27555332; PMCID: PMC5004243; doi: 10.1177/0022034516661151] [2017 Giddon Award for Distinguished Research in the Behavioral Sciences, Behavioral, Epidemiologic & Health Services Research Scientific Group of the International Association for Dental Research]

 

Psychosocial Factors

​

Nelson CI, Wright CD, Brumbaugh JT, Neiswanger K, Crout RJ, Lilly CL, Marazita ML, McNeil DW. Predictors of use of dental care by children in north-central Appalachia in the USA. PLoS One. 2021 Jul 22;16(7):e0250488. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250488. PMID: 34292949; PMCID: PMC8297786.

 

Microbiology

 

Foxman, B., Luo, T., Srinivasan, U., Ramadugu, K., Wen, A., Goldberg, D., Shedden, K., Crout, R., McNeil, D. W., Weyant, R., & Marazita, M. L. (2016). The effects of family, dentition and dental caries on the salivary microbiome. Annals of Epidemiology, 26, 348-354. [PMID: 27157862; NIMHSID: NIHMS776725; PMCID: PMC5015694; doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2016.03.006]