The overall aims of this Institutional Comprehensive Research Training Program in oral health are to develop dental scholars and faculty who can become independent researchers and productive investigators capable of competing successfully for external research support. We believe that this is best accomplished by providing a continuum of research training opportunities that will include; summer experiences before entering dental school, short term training during dental school that will influence career choice, trainings at the MS and PhD level and post doctoral experience that will have an impact on the development of graduates as researchers and faculty, and training opportunities for junior and mid-career faculty. We will offer research training in four major areas of oral health research that are all strongly interdisciplinary and bring together investigators from five colleges at the University of Iowa and from other institutions. The areas are; Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (Director: Dr. Clark Stanford), Cariology and Fluoride Research (Director: Dr. James Wefel). Craniofacial Biology (Director: Dr. Jeff Murray) and Oral Mucosal Diseases (Director: Dr. Christopher Squier). The faculty who are involved in these research programs will serve as mentors to our trainees and represent almost fifty funded researchers with outstanding records of student training.The training program will be directed by Dr Christopher Squier, a well-funded investigator who has been active in oral health research and training for over 25 years. He will also direct the MS and PhD training components. The Associate Director will be Dr. John C. Keller, who has almost twenty years experience as a dental researcher, educator and administrator; he will also direct the post-doctoral training component. The Director and Associate Director will be assisted by two Co-directors, Dr. Janet Guthmiller, who will have responsibility for the pre-dental summer research and the predoctoral dental student research programs, and Dr. Clark Stanford, who will be director of the short-term research training program for faculty development. There will be an Executive Committee consisting of the Program Director, Associate Director and Co-Directors and they will be assisted by a Sub-committee on Recruitment and Diversity. A Program Advisory Committee will provide oversight and assistance to the Directors in the administration of this Program. An External Advisory Committee, consisting of three highly respected scholars in the area of oral health research, will provide annual reviews and advice on progress and direction of the Program.
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