Dear Colleagues:
As part of the NIH and NIDCR budget planning process, each year we identify research initiatives for three years forward. In developing these initiatives, we rely on input from our scientific advisory boards and extramural community. We also invite input from the public.
What are Initiatives?
"Initiatives" are a vehicle used by the Institutes and Centers to showcase future research goals to NIH, the Department of Health and Human Services, and Congress. Our initiative development process first involves the identification of broad research themes; subsequently, specific initiatives within the themes are proposed. The themes we have identified for FY 2005 are listed below.
How can you provide input?
Please note that NIDCR staff team leaders and contacts for each of the themes are listed under each heading. Please contact the team leaders directly if you would like to respond to a specific initiative. If you have additional suggestions about the process, or if you have a new initiative that you would like to suggest, please contact Wendy Liffers at 301-435-2007 or Nandita Chopra at 301-594-8774. Please forward your comments to the respective team leaders listed below no later than Friday, January 24, 2003.
Proposed NIDCR FY 2005 Research Initiatives
Novel Clinical Trials for Oral and Craniofacial Diseases and Conditions
NIDCR Team Leaders/Contacts: Bruce Pihlstrom and Ray Dionne.
Identify and Validate Surrogate Markers for Clinical Disease Progression of Chronic and Disabling Oral Diseases (including caries, periodontal disease, oral cancer, Sjögren's syndrome, temporomandibular joint disorders, and others).
-- Determine if surrogate markers can be used as predictors of common oral diseases that have been shown to have a significant genetic component (i.e. periodontal disease and caries) so that effective preventive and early treatment procedures may be implemented.
NIDCR Team Leaders/Contacts: Yasaman Shirazi and Margo Adesanya.
Novel Research to Evaluate the Behavioral and Biological Determinants of Oral and Craniofacial Diseases In Vulnerable Populations (including individuals with disabilities, the elderly, and children)
NIDCR Team Leaders/Contacts: Ruth Nowjack-Raymer and Jaime Brahim.
Human Stem Cell and Bioengineering Approaches for the Repair/Regeneration of Orofacial Structures
NIDCR Team Leaders/Contacts: Eleni Kousvelari and Pam Robey
AIDS/HIV: Future Opportunities and Initiatives for NIDCR AIDS Research
NIDCR Team Leaders/Contacts: Ricardo Martinez, Dennis Mangan and Sharon Wahl.