The future of dental education and support for biomedical research requires investment in the selection and training of tomorrow?s scientists, including basic, translational or clinical researchers. One of the stated goals of the NIDCR is to ?ensure that a diverse and highly trained workforce is available to address the Nation?s health- related needs in dental, oral, and craniofacial research?. In an effort to achieve this goal, we are seeking renewal of our NIDCR-sponsored Institutional Training program in Oral Health Research which provides an array of training opportunities in craniofacial health research. This grant thus requests support to provide education and intensive, integrated research training for a select cadre of scholars seeking either a PhD degree or post-doctoral training (for both DDS and PhD graduates) with a major focus on dental, orofacial and craniofacial health-related disease processes. Only the most highly qualified and motivated pre-doctoral and post-doctoral candidates will be selected for T90/R90 support. The T90 and R90 award components will allow us to continue to train U.S. citizens and permanent residents, and non-permanent residents, respectively. Outstanding pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees will be selected by an Internal Steering Committee (ISC) for an initial 12-month period of support, and provided they demonstrate satisfactory progress, will be awarded support for another 12 months. Trainee mentors will be tenured faculty from either the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry or the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Mentors have been selected using two simple criteria: 1) they maintain active research profiles and have a significant history of successful mentorship, and/or 2) they have current independent research funding from the NIDCR. Based on these simple criteria the selected mentors? research interests are in alignment with the stated goals of the NIDCR. Additional oversight of the overall operation of the T90/R90 grant will come from an External Advisory Committee (EAC). Both the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry (HOSD) and the Provost?s Office at USC remain fully committed to this and similar federally supported NRSA training grants, and will ensure that additional financial support is in place to achieve all stated outcomes.
The goal of this grant application is to have the financial resources to provide education and training for a select cadre of scholars seeking either a formal PhD degree or post-doctoral training (for both DDS and PhD graduates) with a major focus on dental, orofacial and craniofacial health-related disease processes.
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