NIDCR Clinical Research Fellowship
To assist the dental education community prepare for the challenges and opportunities presented by the NIH Roadmap, the NIDCR has created a program within its Intramural Division to train current dental school faculty members in the basics of clinical research. The site for this training program is the NIH campus at Bethesda, Maryland.
The NIDCR Junior Faculty Development Program is a one- to two-year full-time program designed to train health care professionals in the latest clinical research methodologies. Qualified applicants must hold a DDS/DMD or MD/DO degree and have an interest in dental/oral/craniofacial research. The individual will work in the Clinical Research Core (CRC), which conducts clinical research and provides training in the unique NIH Intramural environment. All applicants must have U.S. or Canadian licensure, as this is a hospital credentialing requirement.
Individuals selected for this program should begin on July 1 of a calendar year so that they can participate in Clinical Center orientation programs with new fellows of other institutes. In October, the course “The Introduction to the Principles and Practice of Clinical Research” begins, which is a four month introductory course that covers the basics of clinical research. Clinic research fellows are encouraged to supplement this course with others offered by the Clinical Center and the The Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES), a private, non-profit organization that works with NIH to provide courses and other offerings to enhance the overall academic environment of NIH. NIDCR will provide tuition and books for these courses.
CRC research projects are designed to facilitate translational research. It is the goal of the CRC to advance the development of clinical applications of laboratory research to benefit both oral and systemic health. Clinical research studies are conducted to complement ongoing basic science laboratory projects. Current protocols focus on the genetic regulation of gingival overgrowth, salivary proteomics, craniofacial imaging of genetic diseases, and oral graft-versus-host disease. Patients evaluated at the Clinical Center--including those with primary immunodeficiencies, those with inherited genetic disorders that affect the craniofacial structures, and those undergoing cancer therapy --are included in CRC clinical research projects. Fellows work with investigators in the CRC, the Human Craniofacial Genetics section, as well as clinicians from other NIDCR branches and NIH institutes to carry out these studies.
The CRC also is committed to using new technologies to evaluate craniofacial structures. One example is stereo-photogrammetry, which evaluates soft tissue facial features in three-dimensions. Digital images from individuals with a known genetic disease can be combined to generate a “mean” facial image; this image is compared to a mean image from controls matched for sex and age. Comparisons of facial images and controls could evolve into a new screening method for genetic diseases. This technology will also be applied to studies of normal facial growth and development to discover how genes control craniofacial growth processes. In addition, the CRC utilizes a volumetric computed tomography (CT) using a cone beam (CB) x-ray system. The CBCT allows three-dimensional and multiplanar examinations of craniofacial tissues and will assess, in great detail, craniofacial pathologies such as cysts and tumors as well as normal tissue development.
Institutions will be provided reimbursement. For more information contact Demetrio L. Domingo, DDS, MS, Program Coordinator (301-594-9726, ddomingo@mail.nih.gov).
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