The purpose of this proposal is to request funds to expand the research programs of the Howard University Health Sciences Center. Included are research protocols from faculty representing the Colleges of Dentistry, Medicine, and Pharmacy & Pharmacal Sciences. These individuals are distributed according to departments as follows: 1) College of Dentistry - Departments of Histopathology and Oral Surgery; 2) College of Medicine - Departments of Anatomy, Biochemistry, Medicine, Microbiology, Obstetrics & gynecology, Pathology, Pediatrics, Physiology & Biophysics, Surgery; and 3) College of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences - Department of Medicinal Chemistry. The primary goal of the proposed program is to increase the research activities in departments whose faculty have not participated in this process to a great extent. A significant number of the participating investigators are, therefore, physicians and dentists. Interdisciplinary as well as disciplinary collaboration between clinical and basic scientists is thus the central theme of this proposed program. A secondary goal of the program is to involve graduate and health professional students, on a limited basis, in the research as described in this application. It is anticipated that the interaction between clinical investigators and health professional students will serve as a positive factor influencing such students to seriously consider academic medicine as a career choice. An additional expected outcome is that diligent pursuit of research goals described in this application will also result in an increase in the number of Health Sciences Center faculty with competitive RO1 type grants.
