17th Edition: June 7, 2006
In this Issue:
1) Funding Opportunities
2) NIDCR News
3) DHHS/NIH News
4) Science Advances
5) NIDCR Personnel News
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Program Announcements
International Research Collaboration – Basic Biomedical (FIRCA-BB) [R03]
International Research Collaboration – Behavioral, Social Sciences (FIRCA-BSS) [R03]
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) for Individual Postdoctoral Fellows (F32)
Research on Malignancies in AIDS and Acquired Immune Suppression (R21)
Protein Biomarkers of Infection-Associated Cancers (R21)
Requests for Applications
New Models of Pain Relevant to the Trigeminal System (R01)
International Tobacco and Health Research and Capacity Building Program (R01)
Recently Cleared Concepts
Concepts represent early planning stages for initiatives in which NIDCR seeks to support research in an understudied and significant area of science. The following concept clearances were approved at the May meeting of the National Advisory Dental and Craniofacial Research Council:
*Bisphosphonate-Associated Osteonecrosis of the Jaw: Pathophysiology and Epidemiology
*Oral Health Promotion Across the Lifespan
*Health Promotion Research Directed to Improving the Oral Health of Women and Their Infants
See Concept Clearances
Extension of Expiration Date for Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award (K08) and Independent Scientist Award (K02) Funding Opportunity Announcements
Notice of Intent to Reissue the Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award
(CTSA) RFA and Request for Comments Regarding CTSA RFA
Directory of Grants and Fellowships in the Global Health Sciences
The 2006 edition of the Directory of Grants and Fellowships in the Global Health Sciences is now available. The directory includes almost 500 funding opportunities related to biomedical and behavioral sciences, with a special emphasis on researchers in the developing world and their collaborators.
NIDCR NEWS
NIDCR Director’s FY 2007 Budget Request
The NIDCR Director's statement for the House Appropriations Committee regarding the FY 2007 budget request is available on the NIDCR web site.
DHHS/NIH NEWS
U.S. Surgeon General Announces Selection of New Chief Dental Officer
U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., announced the selection of RADM (Select) Christopher G. Halliday as the new Chief Dental Officer, effective May 1. Dr. Halliday had been acting director of the Indian Health Service (IHS) Division of Oral Health and the principal dental consultant for the IHS since 2000. He replaces Dr. Dushanka Kleinman, who served as Chief Dental Officer since 2001.
Changes in Business Process and Instructions for NIH Grant Applications
The following Notices reflect changes in the business process and instructions for NIH grant applications:
NIH Announces Plans to Eliminate Mailing of Paper Assignment and Change of Assignment Letters
NIH Announces Change in Business Process: Replacing Principal Investigator Signature on Grant Applications, Progress Reports, and Prior Approval Requests with an Institutional Compliance Requirement
NIH/AHRQ Announce Change in Business Process Concerning eRA Commons Verifications of Electronically Submitted Applications
NIH Announces Interim Changes to the PHS398 Application and Instructions
NIH Announces Changes to the SF424 (R&R) Instructions
NIH Announces Interim Changes to the PHS2590 Noncompeting Progress Report Forms and Instructions
NIH Launches Clinical Studies Nationwide to Investigate Rare Diseases
NIH is launching the first clinical studies of its Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN). More than 20 studies are expected to open in the next few months at 50 sites across the United States and in several other countries including the United Kingdom, Japan, and Brazil. Officially, a rare disease is defined as a disease or condition affecting fewer than 200,000 persons in the United States. About 6,000 such disorders have been identified, impacting an estimated 25 million Americans. The RDCRN has received five-year funding awards totaling $71 million and is coordinated primarily by two NIH components—the Office of Rare Diseases and the National Center for Research Resources.
State-of-the-Science Conference on Multivitamin/Mineral Supplements for Chronic Disease Prevention
On May 15-17, NIH convened an independent panel to review the scientific evidence on the effectiveness and safety of multivitamin/mineral supplement use for chronic disease prevention. See the conference webcast. Also view additional Information about the Multivitamin/Mineral Supplements conference.
NIH Pain Consortium Holds Symposium on Advances in Pain Research
NIDCR co-sponsored the first annual NIH Pain Consortium symposium, “Advances in Pain Research,” held April 17-18 on the NIH campus. The symposium highlighted recent advances in pain research conducted by NIH supported investigators. A broad range of topics was presented describing basic and clinical research of interest to the NIH pain community. NIDCR Director Lawrence Tabak delivered opening remarks. Dr. John Kusiak, director of the NIDCR Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience Program, co-chaired the symposium and was a member of the organizing committee.
Dr. John Niederhuber Appointed Acting Director of the National Cancer Institute
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt has designated John Niederhuber, M.D., to serve as acting director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), effective June 11. A surgeon and researcher with strong ties to the NCI, Dr. Niederhuber joined the NIH in September 2005 as NCI’s deputy director for translational and clinical sciences. Immediately prior to his recruitment to NCI, he chaired the National Cancer Advisory Board. Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach formally submitted his resignation as NCI Director, effective June 10; he will continue to serve as acting FDA Commissioner as well as a senior advisor to Secretary Leavitt while he awaits confirmation.
Dr. Roger Glass Named Director of Fogarty International Center
NIH Director Elias Zerhouni has named Dr. Roger I. Glass as director of the Fogarty International Center and Associate Director of NIH for international programs. Dr. Glass comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where he directed the Viral Gastroenteritis Section. His work in developing and introducing rotavirus vaccines in the developing world is recognized as a significant contribution towards the elimination of health disparities worldwide. Dr. Glass succeeds Dr. Gerald Keusch who left FIC at the end of 2003 and Dr. Sharon Hrynkow who served as acting director. Dr. Hrynkow has resumed her position as deputy director; Dr. Glass began his tenure on May 22.
SCIENCE ADVANCES
Evaluating Health Effects of Dental Amalgam Fillings in Children
NIDCR-supported scientists reported April 18 in the Journal of the American Medical Association the results of the first-ever randomized clinical trials to evaluate the safety of placing amalgam fillings, which contain mercury, in the teeth of children. Both studies—one conducted in Europe, the other in the United States—independently reached the conclusion: Children whose cavities were filled with dental amalgam had no adverse health effects. The findings included no detectable loss of intelligence, memory, coordination, concentration, nerve conduction, or kidney function during the 5-7 years the children were followed. See the NIDCR news release about evaluating the health effects of dental amalgam fillings in children.
Novel Device Shows Potential in Better Detecting Oral Cancer
Science News in Brief
Information about the following topics is available at NIDCR’s Science News in Brief:
*Study Suggests How Oral Bacterium Might Cause Cardiovascular Disease
*Rapid Detection of Submicroscopic Chromosomal Rearrangements
*Promising Molecular Target Reported in Candida albicans
*New Model for Salivary Gland Tumors
*Oral Bacterium May Have Greater Role in Systemic Disease Than Previously Thought
*Study Links Alcohol Consumption to Premalignant Oral Lesions
*Signaling Molecule May Help Fight Biofilm-Related Infections
*First “Smart” Antimicrobial Reported
*Early Oral Biofilm May Be More Variable Than Once Thought
*Study Takes Closer Look at Acquired Immunity in Periodontal Disease
*Study Explores Salivary Mitochondrial DNA Levels and Cancer
NIDCR PERSONNEL NEWS
Dr. Lynn King was selected to be chief of the Scientific Review Branch, effective April 2. Dr. King joined the NIDCR in July 2000 as a research fellow in the Craniofacial and Skeletal Diseases Branch, Division of Intramural Research. The following year she moved to the Scientific Review Branch as a health scientist administrator. Previously she was a research fellow in the National Human Genome Research Institute and held positions at the University of Miami, Harvard, and Boston University. Dr. King received her Ph.D. in population biology from Washington University.
Lois K. Cohen, Ph.D., NIDCR associate director for international health, retired on June 2 after more than 40 years of government service; 30 of those years were with the NIDCR. She began her government career in the 1960s as a social science analyst at the PHS Division of Dental Health. During her tenure there she conducted pioneering work on social science research in dentistry and took on jobs of increasing importance and responsibility. In 1976, Dr. Cohen was recruited to (then) NIDR by Director David Scott who wanted to expand the Institute’s dental behavioral and social science research. She subsequently directed the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Communications from 1983-1989 during which the office issued two strategic plans for NIDR and major evaluations of the Institute’s research investments in dental caries, craniofacial anomalies and biomaterials as well as the Centers programs. In 1989 she was tapped to head the Institute’s extramural program and in 1998 when the Institute created the Office of International Health (OIH), she was named its director. The OIH also served as a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Dental and Craniofacial Research, functioning as a liaison with agencies involved in global oral health research and training both here and abroad. To obtain a more detailed story about Dr. Cohen’s career for your organization’s newsletter or publication, please e-mail:
Mary.Daum@nih.gov
Jim Lipton, D.D.S., Ph.D., retired from the U.S. Commissioned Corps and NIDCR on May 1, ending a career of 30 years in the Public Health Service. Since 1985, he held leadership positions at the NIDCR involving planning and evaluation, scientific development, research training and career development, and research infrastructure and curriculum development. In addition to helping start the first oral molecular epidemiology laboratory at NIH, Dr. Lipton played a major role in initiating the development and implementation of several new NIDCR/NIH research training programs and two new grant programs involving research infrastructure in dental schools and oral health research curriculum development. From 2004 until his retirement he served as senior advisor to the Chief Dental Officer (CDO), U.S. Public Health Service, assisting the CDO in all PHS dental public health activities.
Dr. Nadya Lumelsky joined the NIDCR Center for Biotechnology and Innovation in April as program director of the Tissue Engineering Program. Most recently she served as an investigator in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Before that she was a special expert and staff scientist with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for two years. Dr. Lumelsky received her Ph.D. in molecular biology from the State University of New York and a combined M.S. and B.S. in chemical engineering and basic organic synthesis from the D. Mendeleev Institute of Chemical Technology in Moscow, Russia.