Alexandria, Va., USA - The International Association for Dental Research (IADR), with Unilever, today announced the creation of the "IADR Unilever Social Entrepreneur Approach to Change Oral Health Behavior Research Award." This is an IADR award with funding provided exclusively by Unilever.
The purpose of the IADR Unilever Social Entrepreneur Approach to Change Oral Health Behavior Research Award (IADR Unilever SEA Change Research Award) is to stimulate scientific research in social entrepreneur approaches to affect real behavioral change at the individual or community level that improve oral health, with a particular emphasis on interventions targeted to disadvantaged and vulnerable populations. One IADR Unilever SEA Change Research Award will be granted up to $75,000.
"IADR is excited to partner with Unilever on this new research award," said IADR President Helen Whelton. "Given the global burden of oral diseases and the worldwide oral health inequalities, new, innovative research approaches are sorely needed and IADR is very grateful for Unilever's generous support in an area that is often overlooked by traditional funding agencies."
"Unilever is committed to improving oral health of populations and articulates five levers of encouraging behavioral change: make it understood, make it easy, make it desirable, make it rewarding and make it a habit," said Alexis Roberts-McIntosh, VP Global Oral Care Category R&D for Unilever. "We are delighted to be partnering with IADR to stimulate behavioral research to improve oral health."
The IADR Unilever SEA Change Research Award will be provided in the form of an unrestricted research grant.
Examples of research areas of interest could include, but are not be limited to:
- Demonstrating the effectiveness of social entrepreneurial approaches to improving individual health decisions.
- Expanding on current behavioral change models.
- Demonstrating the effectiveness of positive, relevant oral health messaging incorporated into a complex social milieu.
- Understanding the underlying social determinants of health, including oral health.
IADR is accepting proposals for this new award until March 3, 2014. Please visit http://www.iadr.org/SEA for more information about the IADR Unilever Social Entrepreneur Approach to Change Oral Health Behavior Research Award.
About the International Association for Dental Research
The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) is a nonprofit organization with more than 11,500 individual members worldwide, dedicated to: (1) advancing research and increasing knowledge for the improvement of oral health worldwide, (2) supporting and representing the oral health research community, and (3) facilitating the communication and application of research findings. To learn more, visit http://www.iadr.org.
About Unilever
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries. Our products are present in 7 out of 10 homes globally and are used by over 2 billion people on a daily basis. We work with 173,000 colleagues around the world and generated annual sales of over €50 billion in 2012. Over half of our company's footprint is in the faster growing developing and emerging markets (55% in 2012). Working to create a better future every day, we help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. Our portfolio includes some of the world's best known brands such as Knorr, Persil / Omo, Dove, Sunsilk, Hellmann's, Lipton, Rexona / Sure, Wall's, Lux, Rama, Ponds and Axe, 14 of which now generate a turnover of €1 billion or more. In geographies such as Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe, Unilever has a significant presence of oral care brands, including Signal and Close Up.
Our ambition is to double the size of our business, whilst reducing our overall environmental footprint (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal) and increasing our positive social impact. We are committed to helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, sourcing all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020, and decoupling our growth from our environmental impact. Supporting our three big goals, we have defined seven pillars, underpinned by targets encompassing social, environmental and economic areas. See more on the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan at http://www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/.
Unilever has been recognized in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes for 14 consecutive years. We are included in the FTSE4Good Index Series and attained a top environmental score of 5, leading to inclusion in the FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe 40 Index. In 2012 Unilever led the Climate Counts Company Scorecard for the second year running and the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders in the GlobeScan /Sustainability latest annual survey - for the third year running. The company is an employer of choice in many of the countries in which it operates and is seen as a symbol for innovation and leadership development. Unilever consistently achieves strong recognition in this area by independent bodies and was voted best company in Europe for leadership in the 2013 Hay Group study. For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit http://www.unilever.com.