In this Issue:
1. NIDCR News
2. DHHS/NIH News
3. Funding Opportunities
4. Science Advances
5. NIDCR Personnel News
NIDCR NEWS
Updated FY 2007 Extramural Funding Plan
See NIDCR's updated funding plan.
View the NIDCR Director's Presentation: Facing the Future--The State of NIDCR
NIDCR Director Lawrence Tabak's special presentation at the International Association for Dental Research 85th General Session held in New Orleans in March, is now available online. The presentation includes an overview of the NIDCR and how Institute priorities are reached. In addition, it highlights current national and international funding opportunities. View Dr. Tabak's presentation.
NIDCR to Issue Request for Applications (RFA) for Centers for Research to Reduce Disparities in Oral Health
NIDCR will issue an RFA in the spring of 2007 for Centers for Research to Reduce Disparities in Oral Health. This is a competitive renewal and is open to current centers as well as to new applicants. Letters of intent will be due July 13, 2007; applications are due by November 15, 2007. See additional details about the RFA.
Job Opening: NIDCR Deputy Scientific Director
The Office of the Scientific Director, NIDCR Division of Intramural Research, seeks a deputy to the scientific director. Applications will be accepted until May 4, 2007.
DHHS/NIH NEWS
NIH Director Launches New Innovator Award Program
NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., has announced a special program to fund new investigators who propose highly innovative research projects that could have an exceptionally great impact on biomedical or behavioral science. The NIH Director’s New Innovator Award offers grants of up to $1.5 million in direct costs over five years. The application period is open April 25 - May 22, 2007. NIH expects to make at least 14 awards in September 2007. New investigators who have not yet obtained an NIH R01 or similar grant are eligible to apply. See the Request for Applications. Also see the press release about the New Innovator Award.
Third Round of Requests for Applications for Clinical and Translational Science Awards Released
The third round of Requests for Applications for Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) was released March 22. The total funds available for the new awards are approximately $38 million. It is anticipated that up to 8 awards will be made with an expected start date of June 1, 2008. Partnerships with schools of dentistry are strongly encouraged in the CTSA applications. For additional details, please see:
A new feature of this CTSA funding announcement opportunity is that applications that name multiple principal investigators will be accepted after October 1, 2007.
New Roadmap Initiatives for FY 2008
The following five topics are under consideration as major NIH Roadmap Initiative proposals for FY 2008:
- Microbiome
- Protein capture/proteome tools
- Phenotyping services and tools
- Inflammation as a common mechanism of disease
- Epigenetics
In addition, the Genetic Connectivity Map and Transient Molecular Complexes have been designated for development through smaller pilot study proposals.
Plans for the above initiatives will be developed over the next few months with input from a Council of Councils, which is an NIH Director's advisory council composed of members from advisory councils for all NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) and the Council of Public Representatives. Plans will then be reviewed by IC Directors to determine Roadmap funding priorities beginning in fiscal years 2008 and 2009.
Register Now for NIH Pain Consortium Second Annual Symposium
The NIH Pain Consortium will hold its second annual symposium, Advances in Pain Research, May 1, 2007 on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. The symposium will present new and exciting advances in pain research and pain management featuring work done through NIH support. Topics include mechanisms and management of neuropathic pain, visceral pain, inflammatory pain, and treatment-induced pain. Members of the extramural scientific community, the NIH scientific community, health care providers, and the public are invited to attend. The NIH Pain Consortium is co-chaired by Lawrence Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D., director, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research; Story Landis, Ph.D., director, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; and Patricia A. Grady, R.N., M.S., Ph.D., director, National Institute of Nursing Research. Registration for the symposium is free.
Appointment of Director, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., has been appointed director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), effective April 1, 2007. Dr. Rodgers, a physician-scientist and molecular hematologist, is internationally recognized for his contributions to the development of the first effective and FDA-approved therapy for sickle cell anemia and other genetic diseases of hemoglobin. He served as NIDDK's acting director since March 2006 and deputy director since 2001and also headed the Institute's Molecular and Clinical Hematology Branch.
Appointment of Director, National Center for Research Resources
Barbara Alving, M.D., has been appointed director of the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), effective April 1, 2007. Dr. Alving, who served as NCRR's acting director since March 2005, oversaw the launch of the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program. Previously, she was deputy director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) since 2001 and acting director from 2003 through 2005. She joined NIH in 1999 when she came to NHLBI as director of the Division of Blood Diseases and Resources.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENTS
AIDS
Biotechnology/Biomaterials
Computational Science
Epidemiology/Population Research; Health Disparities Research
International Health
Training
REQUESTS FOR APPLICATIONS
AIDS
NIH Roadmap
Salivary Glands
Administrative Supplements Available for Making Knockout Mice
As a participant in the trans-NIH Knockout Mouse Project, NIDCR announces the opportunity for investigators to apply for administrative supplements to have mouse knockouts made from existing mutant embryonic stem (ES) cell resources. The submission date is May 1, 2007; the award date is July 1, 2007. See additional details about the supplements for making knockout mice.
SCIENCE ADVANCES
Study May Help Head and Neck Cancer Patients Find Relief From Dry Mouth
Science News in Brief
Please see the following brief summaries of recent oral health research findings:
Protein Increases Hardness of Dental Enamel
A Closer Look at Treating Chronic Periodontitis
Making Sense of Hypusine
Researchers Create Promising Antifouling Film
Study Examines Impact of Rigorous Dental Care on Bacterial Profile in Subgingival Space
Researchers Demonstrate Control Point for Gene-Based Therapies
NIDCR PERSONNEL NEWS
Dr. R. Dwayne Lunsford Named Head of NIDCR's Microbiology Program
R. Dwayne Lunsford, Ph.D., recently joined NIDCR's extramural program as director of the Microbiology Program, Center for Integrative Biology and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Lunsford is a nationally recognized molecular microbiologist with over 15 years experience in the genetics and physiology of human bacterial pathogens, particularly those involving the oral cavity and community acquired pathogens. From 1992-1997 he was a senior staff fellow in NIDCR's intramural program. He then left NIH for a position at GlaxoSmithKline. In the private sector he was involved in new target identification for antibacterial drug discovery, biological and genetic support for target-to-lead compound development, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic assessment of antibiotic dosing regimens, mammalian molecular biology, and scientific team management in both large and small pharmaceutical companies.
Dr. Bruce J. Baum Receives IADR Award
Dr. Bruce J. Baum, chief of NIDCR's Gene Transfer Section, Gene Therapy and Therapeutics Branch, received the Oral Medicine & Pathology Award from the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) in March. The award is one of the Distinguished Scientist Awards given annually by the IADR and represents the highest honor the association can bestow. Dr. Baum was cited for his major scientific contributions to research on the pathogenesis and management of salivary glands and related medical disorders. See the interview with Dr. Baum that appears above under Science Advances--"Study May Help Head and Neck Cancer Patients Find Relief From Dry Mouth."