In this Issue:
1. NIDCR News
2. NIH News
3. Funding Opportunities
4. Science Advances
5. NIDCR Personnel News
NIDCR NEWS
New Investigators R03 Small Grant Program
NIDCR has issued a new Funding Opportunities Announcement (FOA) for the NIDCR Small Grant Program for New Investigators (R03).The FOA, published in the NIH Guide on July 25, incorporates the following changes:
- Increased budget cap from $100,000 to $150,000 over two years
- Decrease in required Principal Investigator (PI) effort from 25% to 20%
- Use of the NIH definition for “New Investigator”
Note that this FOA is a “PAR.” Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by an appropriate review group convened by NIDCR in accordance with the review criteria stated in the FOA. Also see related R03 Notice.
Loan Repayment Program
Through the NIH Loan Repayment Program (LRP), NIDCR awarded loan repayment benefits to 15 investigators conducting clinical or pediatric research in FY 2007. The LRP seeks to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals to biomedical, behavioral and clinical research careers by using the repayment of educational loans as an incentive. NIH will repay up to $35,000 per year of each awardee’s qualified educational debt and make corresponding Federal tax payments to cover the increase in Federal taxes. The next application cycle is September 1, 2007 - December 1, 2007. See additional information about the Loan Repayment Program.
NIH NEWS
Your Input on Peer Review is Needed
Now is the time to provide your input on peer review at NIH. Two working groups have been formed--one external, the other internal--to examine the peer review process, with the goal of enhancing its efficiency and effectiveness. NIDCR Director Lawrence Tabak is co-chairing both groups. NIH is seeking comments from reviewers, applicants, and members of the public on the strengths and deficiencies of the peer review system. Responses will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. EST on September 7, 2007 via a comment form on the grants.nih.gov Web site or by e-mail at PeerReviewRFI@mail.nih.gov.
In addition, you are invited to attend one of the three 4-hour consultation meetings on peer review hosted by the external working group:
Chicago, September 12, 2007 at the Fairmont Princess
New York City, October 8, 2007, at the Embassy Suites
San Francisco, October 25, 2007, at the Renaissance Parc 55
Please note that travel expenses will not be reimbursed by NIH.
Register and view the common agenda for these meetings.
Also see the NIH Director's E-Newsletter on Peer Review.
Third Annual NIH Director's Pioneer Award Symposium
An exciting program is set for the third annual NIH Director's Pioneer Award Symposium on Wednesday, September 19. The event will feature research talks by the 2006 Pioneer Award recipients, including NIDCR grantee David A. Relman, M.D, and announcement of the 2007 Pioneer awardees. The NIH Director's Pioneer Award program--a key component of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research--supports exceptionally creative scientists who take highly innovative, and potentially transformative, approaches to major challenges in biomedical research. See the Award Symposium agenda.
The event will also be videocast live and archived.
NIH Pipeline to Partnerships Initiative
NIH has announced a new Web-based resource called NIH Pipeline to Partnerships (P2P), aimed at furthering the development of NIH's licensed technologies and technologies funded through the NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. This new P2P initiative provides a virtual space where NIH licensees and NIH SBIR/STTR awardees can showcase their technologies and product development for an audience of potential strategic partners, investors, and licensees. See additional information about the NIH Pipeline to Partnerships.
NIH Funds Knockout Mouse Repository
NIH will provide $4.8 million to establish and support a repository for its Knockout Mouse Project. The award is the final component of a more than $50 million trans-NIH initiative to increase the availability of genetically altered mice and related materials. The University of California, Davis and Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) in Oakland, Calif. will collaborate to preserve, protect, and make available about 8,500 types of knockout mice and related products available to the research community. See further details about the Knockout Mouse Repository.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENTS
Neurobiology/Pain
Research Mechanisms
REQUESTS FOR APPLICATIONS
Genome-wide Association Studies
Neurobiology/Pain
NOTICES
SCIENCE ADVANCES
Periodontal Research: Pathways to Progress
See an interview with Dr. Salomon Amar, a scientist in the Department of Periodontology and Oral Biology at the Boston University School of Dental Medicine. He discusses the use of comprehensive protein-profiling, or proteomic, approaches to map out signaling pathways in the monocyte and to identify new ways to control the destructive inflammation of chronic periodontitis. Read the interview with Dr. Amar.
Lab on a Chip for Oral Cancer Shows Promise
Finding out whether that unusual sore in your mouth is cancerous should become a lot faster and easier in the years ahead. Scientists supported by the NIDCR have engineered the first fully automated, all-in-one test, or lab on a chip, that can be programmed to probe cells brushed from the mouth for a common sign of raloral cancer. See the news release about the lab on a chip.
Also see the interview with Dr. McDevitt.
Nature's Secrets Yield New Adhesive Material
As published in the July 18 issue of the journal Nature, scientists supported by the NIDCR have designed a synthetic material that starts with the dry adhesive properties of the gecko lizard and supplements it with the underwater adhesive properties of a mussel. The hybrid material, which they call a geckel nanoadhesive, proved in initial testing to be adherent under dry and wet conditions. See the news release about the nanoadhesive.
Science News in Brief
Please see the following brief summaries of recent oral health research findings:
Study Explores miRNAs in Inflammatory Muscle Pain
Tonsils May Play a Role in HIV Transmission
Researchers Develop Stronger Calcium Phosphate Cement for Craniofacial Bone Repair
Dental School Measures Effect of NIDCR R25 Grant
Mathematical Model of Fluid Secretion in a Salivary Gland
NIDCR PERSONNEL NEWS
New Scientific Review Administrators
Two scientific review administrators recently joined the NIDCR Scientific Review Branch:
Mario Rinaudo, whose expertise is in the areas of virology and immunology, previously worked at the Center for Scientific Review, where he was in charge of the Topics in Virology Study section. He has worked at NIH since 1987 in the intramural research programs of several institutes, including the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the NIDCR, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He received his M.D. from the University of Cordoba-Argentina.
Rebecca Wagenaar Miller comes from NIDCR's Division of Intramural Research where she worked in the Oral and Pharyngeal Cancer Branch investigating pathways of collagen degradation in bone development. She received her Ph.D. in cancer biology from Vanderbilt University.