The primary objective of this program is to provide short-term (10 weeks) research training experience for six talented college undergraduate students in the area of oral and craniofacial health and disease. The long- range goal is to increase the number of such students pursuing advanced degree(s) and research training in oral, dental and craniofacial biology through the interest generated by exposure to a broad spectrum of research activities in this area. The Program Faculty have been selected on the basis of their active research programs in the areas of periodontal diseases, oral infectious diseases, craniofacial development, oral cancer biology and oral microbiology. Some faculty also engage in clinical and community-based oral health research on oral-systemic diseases that disproportionately affect African Americans, including oral cancer, periodontal diseases, early childhood caries and the oral disease burden of chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Students in the program will become intimately involved in ongoing projects in one of the participating laboratories. They will be exposed to essential aspects of conducting basic and clinical research related to oral health and disease. Students also will participate in a seminar series that features cutting-edge topics in biological research with a specific focus on topics related to oral and craniofacial biology. In addition, the seminar series will provide a fundamental knowledge base in laboratory safety and responsible conduct of research. The proposed training program also will expose the students to cutting-edge clinical dentistry, diagnostics and patient-oriented research. At the conclusion of the training period, the students will prepare a written paper and give an oral presentation on their project to an audience of fellow students, mentors, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. They will be encouraged to return to campus in November to present their research at a university-wide annual research day. The program will be evaluated at the end of each year using a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, including analysis of the applicant pool data and recruitment methods, exit interviews and surveys with the students, and formal and informal feedback from the mentors. Additionally, students'career choices and progress will be tracked for a minimum of 10 years by yearly contact with the participants.

Public Health Relevance

The goal of this program is to attract talented undergraduate college students into careers in oral, dental and craniofacial sciences, particularly fields of relevance to the NIDCR. This is expected to increase the supply of qualified investigators who are studying oral, dental and craniofacial diseases. Increasing the work force in these fields will result in an enhanced capacity to address oral health-related disease and improve the quality of oral health care nationwide.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Type
Education Projects (R25)
Project #
1R25DE022677-01
Application #
8310438
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZDE1-MK (05))
Program Officer
Hardwick, Kevin S
Project Start
2012-06-01
Project End
2017-05-31
Budget Start
2012-06-01
Budget End
2013-05-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$52,683
Indirect Cost
$3,902
Name
Medical University of South Carolina
Department
Dentistry
Type
Schools of Dentistry
DUNS #
183710748
City
Charleston
State
SC
Country
United States
Zip Code
29425
Alexander-Bryant, Angela A; Zhang, Haiwen; Attaway, Christopher C et al. (2017) Dual peptide-mediated targeted delivery of bioactive siRNAs to oral cancer cells in vivo. Oral Oncol 72:123-131
Novince, Chad M; Whittow, Carolyn R; Aartun, Johannes D et al. (2017) Commensal Gut Microbiota Immunomodulatory Actions in Bone Marrow and Liver have Catabolic Effects on Skeletal Homeostasis in Health. Sci Rep 7:5747
Valerio, Michael S; Herbert, Bethany A; Basilakos, Dimitrios S et al. (2015) Critical role of MKP-1 in lipopolysaccharide-induced osteoclast formation through CXCL1 and CXCL2. Cytokine 71:71-80
Valerio, Michael S; Herbert, Bethany A; Griffin 3rd, Alfred C et al. (2014) MKP-1 signaling events are required for early osteoclastogenesis in lineage defined progenitor populations by disrupting RANKL-induced NFATc1 nuclear translocation. Bone 60:16-25