12th Edition: June 8, 2005

Requests for Applications (RFAs)
The Role of Neuronal/Glial Cell Interactions in Orofacial Pain Disorders

Sjogren’s Syndrome: A Model Complex Disease

NIH Roadmap Initiatives
Notice of Limited Competition Request for Applications: Nanomedicine Development Centers

Cancellation: Planning Grants for Regional Translational Research Centers

Program Announcements (PAs)
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Dental Research Training Program

Tools for Zebrafish Research

Drug Delivery Systems for Orofacial Disease (SBIR/STTR)

Extension of Bioengineering Research Grants (BRG) Program Announcement (PA-02-011)

Extension of Bioengineering Nanotechnology Initiative (SBIR) Program Announcement (PA-02-125)

Reminder to Use NIH Commons
A reminder that the fastest way to find out information about your NIH grant or grant application (including scores/percentiles) is through the NIH Commons. The web site contains information about the scope and purpose of the Commons, frequently asked questions, and the status of grants/applications. In addition, the Commons is the place to submit non-competing continuation (Type 5) applications (i.e., Progress Reports), and Just in Time information. Your institution must arrange to sign you on to the Commons.

NIDCR Offers Junior Faculty Development Program
To help the dental education community prepare for the challenges and opportunities presented by the NIH Roadmap, NIDCR is creating a new program within its Division of Intramural Research to train current dental school faculty members in the latest clinical research methodologies. Individuals will work in the Clinical Research Core (CRC), which conducts clinical research and provides training in the unique NIH intramural environment. The NIDCR Junior Faculty Development Program is a one- to two-year full-time program. Qualified applicants must have a DDS/DMD or MD/DO degree, U.S. or Canadian licensure, and an interest in dental/oral/craniofacial research.

Contact either: Jane C. Atkinson, D.D.S., program coordinator (301-594-9726) jatkinso@mail.nih.gov
or Thomas C. Hart, D.D.S., Ph.D., NIDCR clinical director (301-496-6242) thart@mail.nih.gov

Summer Dental Student Awardees Selected
Ten students from U.S. dental schools across the country have been selected as 2005 NIDCR Summer Dental Student Awardees (SDSA). The NIDCR SDSA program is an eight-week internship designed to expose dental students to the latest advances in oral health research. Schools that will be represented this summer are the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health, Baylor College of Dentistry, Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery, Howard University College of Dentistry, Louisiana State University School of Dentistry, Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry, Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry, University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry, and the University of Missouri, Kansas City School of Dentistry.

NIDCR Hosts Dental Students’ Conference on Research
On April 11, approximately 50 dental students selected by their deans from schools across the U.S. and Canada, traveled to the NIDCR to participate in the 41^st annual American Dental Association (ADA) Dental Students’ Conference on Research. The conference was hosted by the NIDCR and sponsored by the ADA through the ADA Foundation with support from Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. The students spent a day on the NIH campus learning about oral health research and research training opportunities. The morning session included a welcome from NIDCR Director Lawrence Tabak, followed by presentations by Dr. Michael Lynch, Director, Clinical Research, Pfizer; and Dr. Robert Collins, Deputy Executive Director, IADR/AADR. Presentations also were given by Dr. Bruce Baum, chief, NIDCR Gene Transfer and Technology Branch, on “Why Research Matters to Dental Students;” Dr. Bruce Pihlstrom, acting director, NIDCR Division of Clinical Research and Health Promotion, on “Design and Conduct of Clinical Research;” and Dr. Jane Atkinson, deputy clinical director, NIDCR Clinical Research Core, on “Clinical Research Conducted at the NIDCR.” The students toured NIDCR laboratories and learned about the facilities and research opportunities available to them through NIH programs.

NIDCR Sponsors Grants Workshop for Recently Tenured Dental School Faculty
NIDCR sponsored a workshop for newly tenured dental faculty April 18-19 on the NIH campus. The workshop was aimed specifically at new faculty with no NIH grants experience. NIDCR viewed this workshop as an investment in both individual faculty members and the dental schools’ research infrastructure. More than 120 participants from 46 U.S. dental schools attended the workshop. Participants were given an overview of NIDCR priorities and strategic directions, the NIH grants process, the NIH Roadmap, and shared NIH research resources. In addition, they met with NIDCR program directors, viewed the Center for Scientific Review’s video of a mock study section review, and attended a grants writing seminar.

Have You Considered a Career in Oral Health Research?
NIDCR staff produced an article titled “Have You Considered a Career in Oral Health Research?” that appeared in Keepsake, a magazine for undergraduates at institutions with a significant minority population. The article shows students that oral health research is an exciting career option and lets them know about the variety of training and career opportunities available from NIDCR. It includes interviews with NIDCR Director Dr. Lawrence Tabak, who gives an overview of oral health research and talks about the importance of recruiting young people into science careers; Dr. Sylvia Frazier-Bowers, Department of Orthodontics, University of North Carolina School of Dentistry, who talks about her journey from college student to assistant professor; and Dr. Andrew Martinez, professor of Genetics, Department of Biology, University of Texas at San Antonio, who discusses the combined D.D.S.-Ph.D. degree that some of his students have pursued and the expanded opportunities that come with it.

Job Opening: Health Scientist Administrator
NIDCR has a position available for a Health Scientist Administrator in its Center for Biotechnology and Innovation. Applications will be accepted until June 30^th.

NIDCR Calendar of Events
Please see NIDCR’s Calendar of Events for the latest listings of meetings and events sponsored by the Institute.

NIDCR Awards Grants for New Practice-Based Initiative
NIDCR has awarded three grants, totaling $75 million, that establish regional practice-based research networks to investigate with greater scientific rigor everyday issues in the delivery of oral healthcare. NIDCR awarded the three seven-year grants to: New York University, which will oversee the East Coast research network; the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which will work jointly with the University of Florida in Gainesville to coordinate studies in the South; and the University of Washington in Seattle, which together with the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland will operate the network in the West. Each regional network will conduct approximately 15 to 20 short-term clinical studies over the next seven years, comparing the benefits of different dental procedures, dental materials, and prevention strategies under a range of patient and clinical conditions.

NIDCR to Hold Meeting on Research Training
On June 9, NIDCR will hold a meeting on research training, an important component in the ongoing development of an Implementation Plan for the NIDCR Strategic Plan. Training of both basic and clinical scientists is a crosscutting area that affects many institutes, academic, public and private organizations and agencies. The NIDCR Meeting on Research Training will focus on what the NIDCR can learn from the experiences of other institutes, agencies, and organizations that can then be applied to the development and refinement of a training portfolio for basic and clinical oral health research. Attendees at the meeting will include U.S. and Canadian training directors, dental school deans, associate deans for research, and representatives from the American Dental Association, the American Dental Education Association, the American Association for Dental Research, the National Dental Association, and the Hispanic Dental Association.
 
Dr. Charles N. Serhan to Deliver Kreshover Lecture September 23rd
Dr. Charles N. Serhan, Director of the Center for Experimental Therapeutics and Reperfusion Injury at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Professor of Anaesthesia at Harvard Medical School, will deliver the 2005 NIDCR Seymour J. Kreshover Lecture on Friday, September 23. The lecture will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Lipsett Amphitheater in Building 10 on the NIH campus. The title of Dr. Serhan’s lecture is, “The Role of Novel Anti-Inflammatory and Pro-Resolving Lipid Mediators in Oral Inflammation and Resolution." Dr. Serhan is internationally recognized for his studies on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of inflammation and the biochemistry of blood cells. Recently he has discovered that the “resolution” of acute inflammation is an active process, something that was not recognized earlier. By understanding the cellular and biochemical pathways involved in resolution and anti-inflammation, the aim is to better control the level of inflammation, its duration, and pain associated with a wide range of diseases and injuries.

NIH Makes ‘Public Access’ Effective May 2
NIH has made official its intent to create an online public archive of the research it funds. On May 2, the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central began hosting an electronic, searchable database of peer-reviewed journal articles funded by NIH money. NIH-funded investigators are being asked—not required--to post their manuscripts to PubMed Central so that citizen-taxpayers will have free access to the work their money has purchased. .

US Surgeon General’s Family History Initiative
The Surgeon General and the Department of Health and Human Services have launched a national public health campaign that shows citizens how to use genealogical information to become better informed about their health. Health care professionals have known for a long time that common diseases - heart disease, cancer, and diabetes - and even rare diseases - like hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, and sickle cell anemia - can run in families. If one generation of a family has high blood pressure, it is not unusual for the next generation to have similarly high blood pressure. The U.S. Surgeon General’s Family History Initiative aims to increase awareness of hereditary diseases and risk factors by teaching families how to do their "medical family tree." Included is a computer program that helps individuals track their family’s medical history.

SCIENCE ADVANCES

Dental Enamel: From Matrix to Microribbons

Science News in Brief
Information about the following topics is available at Science News in Brief:
*Scientists Describe Oral Bacterium’s Interaction with Immune Cells
*Chemo Drug Shows Preclinical Promise Against Head and Neck Cancer
*More Early Progress in Tissue Engineering Replacement Joints
*New Lead in Oral Resistance to HIV-1 Infection
*Does a Parent’s Age Increase Risk of Conceiving Child with Oral Clefts?
*Predicted Protein May be Important in Biofilm Formation
*New Lead in Salivary Diagnostics
*Immune Mechanism Discovered
*Advance in Genetics of Cleft Lip and Palate

Dr. Saadi Appointed Scientific Review Administrator
Dr. Soheyla Saadi has been appointed as a scientific review administrator in the Scientific Review Branch, Division of Extramural Activities. Prior to joining the NIDCR, Dr. Saadi served as a health scientist administrator intern with the Center for Scientific Research (CSR) and held positions at the New York University School of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Duke University Medical Center, and the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Saadi received a Ph.D. in microbiology from the New York University School of Medicine in 1985.