Revised Application: The candidate for this K24 midcareer investigator award In patient-oriented research is Dr. Timothy F. Meiller, Professor of Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences and Professor of Oncology at the Greenebaum Cancer Center at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Dr. Meiller has fully approved funding of his projects through 2004, with additional pending grants through 2007. Dr. Meiller holds a DDS degree and a PhD in Virology/Immunology. He is Board Eligible in Oral Pathology and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Medicine. He has been a full-time faculty member at the University of Maryland since 1977 arid earned his PhD from the Graduate School at the University in 1992. The K24 will allow Dr. Meiller dedicated clinical research time to: * work with mentored faculty/students in the direct patient assessment of oral disease * work with the mentees, standardizing the collection of data using oral indices * assessing the clinical significance of the findings after the hypothesis has been tested Mentoring of other faculty, dental students, graduate students, and post-doctoral students at the University has been a major component of Dr. Meiller's career. The availability of clinical cohorts of adult and pediatric patients, such as those with HIV associated oral diseases and those undergoing myelosuppressive chemotherapy for cancer, has allowed Dr. Meiller to establish a desirable clinical environment for mentoring. Plans for recruitment, selection, education, mentoring and assessment of outcomes related to faculty interested in clinical research are described. Specifically: * where Dr. Meiller will find the highly qualified potential mentees * what they will do as they work with Dr. Meiller to be socialized into the world of research * what will Dr. Mauler do to help them make the transition into academia or research; and * how will outcomes related to recognition/success be monitored, assessed and tracked after gaining independence The Research Plan outlined in the application describes clinical patient oriented investigations into oral complications, as studied in patients with chemotherapy induced or HIV disease induced immunosuppression. Mentoring opportunities are cited for the project components related to chemotherapy associated oral fungal infections and effects of immunosuppression on periodontal disease. The K24 award will guarantee Dr. Meiller the time for an intense period of clinical patient-oriented research activity and expanded opportunities for mentoring junior faculty.
| Kruppa, Michael; Jabra-Rizk, Mary Ann; Meiller, Timothy F et al. (2004) The histidine kinases of Candida albicans: regulation of cell wall mannan biosynthesis. FEMS Yeast Res 4:409-16 |
