Dear Colleagues:
Recently you have been hearing about a number of funding opportunities at the NIH and the NIDCR. We are excited about the special, short-term opportunities afforded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and are working hard to implement the related activities in a timely manner.
At the same time, we remain responsible for the stewardship of our appropriated budget. To that end, the NIDCR is identifying topical themes for development into research initiatives as part of the regular budget planning process for Fiscal Year 2011. During this process, we welcome input from our scientific advisory boards, the extramural community, interested organizations, and the public at large.
This call for public comment will remain open through May 29. Please send your comments and suggestions for specific theme areas to us at FY2011Comments@nidcr.nih.gov . If you want to suggest additional topic areas, or comment on the process for developing research initiatives, please send those suggestions to the same e-mail. Your comments will receive prompt review and consideration.
Below, we provide background about the initiatives process and a description of the proposed themes for 2011.
Thank you for your continued interest and valuable input.
Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D.
Director
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
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. The NIDCR begins the initiative development process each year by identifying broad research topic areas, or themes. We then develop a specific initiative proposal for each theme, taking into consideration the input received. The themes we have identified for FY 2011 are listed below.
It is important to remember that initiatives are not a complete picture of the Institute’s planned portfolio of supported work for the year indicated, nor do they signal that that themes highlighted in previous years have been abandoned. When identifying themes for consideration as funding initiatives, NIDCR considers many factors, including: scientific opportunity, alignment with the mission and goals of the Institute’s strategic plans, and robustness of the existing portfolio in a particular theme area both currently and in the year under consideration.
How are these themes different from recent ARRA-related announcements?
All of the themes proposed for 2011 are in topical areas that we believe to be ready for scientific progress, and consistent with planning for a balanced portfolio of grants in out years. Some of those themes also were able to fit within the guidance we received for administration and award of short-term funding opportunities under ARRA in 2009 and 2010. We hope that by coordinating (where appropriate) the availability of two-year funding through ARRA and development of longer term funding opportunities through the regular budget planning process for 2011 we will gain the maximum benefit by providing both immediate stimulation for the economy and a jump-start for scientific progress in areas identified as potential initiatives for 2011.
Proposed NIDCR FY 2011 Research Themes (alphabetical by title):
Analytical and Clinical Validation of Salivary Proteins as Biomarkers for Disease
Cataloging the salivary proteome is a significant first step toward understanding how salivary proteins may reflect oral and systemic health and disease. Saliva’s potential usefulness as a diagnostic fluid hinges upon whether it contains markers of diseases, whether these markers can be reliably measured, and whether they can be validated against other biofluids or bioassays to predict or diagnose oral and systemic conditions. In addition, the sensitivity of detection and the specificity of any markers must be clarified in order to reliably differentiate among conditions that share molecular manifestations, e.g. inflammatory markers. Once validated, these biomarkers have great potential to be further developed for saliva-based diagnostic assays and panels. Initiatives developed around this research theme could support progress toward that goal.
Click Chemistry for Oral, Dental and Craniofacial Applications
The goal of this research theme is to encourage the use of click chemistry to develop new molecular entities for oral, dental and craniofacial applications. The term “click chemistry” was coined in 2001 by Barry Sharpless and colleagues to describe a synthetic chemical method to link simple organic molecules together through highly efficient, highly selective, and non-toxic reactions. Currently, the centerpiece of click chemistry is a reaction that connects building block molecules at physiological temperatures in liquid media. This reaction has proven useful for developing reporters and tags for various organic molecules; developing anti-infective and anti-tumor agents; creating molecular libraries; synthesizing novel polymers; and functionalizing material surfaces for microarray, biosensor or microfluidic platforms. Thus, for oral, dental and craniofacial application, studies might include the development of small molecules to disrupt oral biofilms or anti-infective agents for oral diseases, head and neck cancer detection agents and therapeutics, new dental materials, or novel in vivo molecular imaging modalities. Initiatives developed around this research theme would serve to attract a cadre of chemists to collaborate with biologists in exploring novel technologies and resources for mission-related applications.
Developing Effective Behavioral Interventions that Meet the Needs of Diverse Populations
Health behaviors play an important role in many health conditions, and behavioral interventions can improve health behaviors. The goal of this theme is to encourage critical research that compares alternative forms of behavioral interventions addressing a common oral or other health need. A major challenge in behavioral research is how to develop interventions that address the needs of our diverse populations, drawing from and contributing to a body of knowledge about behavior change, without starting over for each new population we serve. The current model involves little cross-talk between fields, or even within fields; as a result, a new intervention is developed (along with the surveys, focus groups, draft intervention manuals, assessment measures, etc.) each time there is a new target population. Initiatives developed around this research theme would strive to test which aspects of an intervention require tailoring for a particular population, and which aspects of the intervention are core elements that should be preserved for all populations.
Functional Restoration of Salivary Glands
The goal of this research theme is to encourage research utilizing a variety of approaches for restoring damaged salivary gland function. Saliva is essential for maintaining oral homeostasis; reduction in salivary function causes serious oral disease. Severe reductions in salivary function occur with Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that primarily affects women, and after radiation treatment for head and neck cancers. Few breakthroughs have been made to restore salivary gland function; artificial saliva is not a long-term solution. Targeted research is needed for cell-, protein/peptide-, small molecule-, and gene-based approaches to stimulate fluid secretion by increasing the activities of channels and transport proteins, or repairing defective cells and tissues. Current studies aiming to improve salivary function are hampered by the lack of dynamic tools and reproducible methods to reliably examine salivary function. Therefore, initiatives developed around this research theme also would encourage development of such tools for use in animals and humans.
Genome-wide Studies of Understudied Diseases
Genome-wide association studies have yielded significant insights into the genetic contribution to many common diseases, but this approach has not been widely adopted to study rarer and highly complex diseases such as temporomandibular joint and muscle disorders, oral cancer, Sjögren’s syndrome, or periodontal disease. The goal of this research theme is to encourage genome-wide studies and follow-up studies to identify promising areas of the genome and characterize and understand the function of genetic variants that affect disease risk. Studies initiate and/or follow-up unbiased strategies, and may include bioinformatic approaches to data integration and interpretation.
Molecular Characterization of Salivary Gland Tumors
The biggest challenges to progress in salivary gland tumor research are the lack of characterization of tumors at the molecular level, and the lack of appropriate animal models for studying molecular pathogenesis and testing therapeutic agents. Initiatives developed around this theme would address those challenges. Although state-of-the-art technological platforms have been applied to many types of tumors, salivary gland tumors have been understudied. Thus, progress in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of these tumors lags behind other tumors. To take advantage of discoveries emanating from other tumor studies, a systematic and comprehensive profiling of salivary gland tumors is needed for better understanding of the molecular signature of tumor formation and progression. Additional efforts could be directed toward developing useful animal models for preclinical testing of the new biomarkers.
New Models and Measures in Pre-clinical Chronic Pain Research
Existing animal models of temporomandibular joint and muscle disorders or other orofacial pain conditions inadequately reflect the human pain state. Current measures of pain in animals are mainly focused on evoked acute pain responses and do not correspond to the spontaneous, on-going, or recurrent pain found in many chronic pain conditions. New animal models that could be used to study the transition from acute to chronic pain in temporomandibular joint and muscle disorders or orofacial pain disorders, coupled with the development of new functional and behavioral assays of acute and chronic pain could provide powerful new tools to the research community. Initiatives developed around this theme would provide the means to enhance our understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying the development of chronic pain conditions and the responses of patients to therapeutic interventions.
Pathophysiology and Clinical Studies of Bisphosphonate-associated Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (ONJ)
Published reports on bisphosphonate-associated ONJ have overwhelmingly focused on the epidemiology, presentation and conservative treatment options of this morbid oral condition. The underlying pathophysiology and clinical resolution remain largely unexplored. This research theme would address gaps in our understanding of how bisphosphonates may interfere with bone healing and repair at the genetic, molecular, cellular, and tissue levels. This theme could also address the need for studies to identify risk factors, onset, progression and management of this condition. This information would present new opportunities for designing prevention and intervention strategies in ONJ. Program Announcements released in FY2007 resulted in few funded projects; however, the research community has been accumulating more preliminary data over the intervening time period. Initiatives developed around this research theme would signal NIDCR’s continued interest in this area of research.