Women's health has become a major priority for research at NIH. Branch staff have participated with other NIH scientists in developing clinical trial and community demonstration research agendas for women's health. Extensive literature reviews have been conducted to assess the interaction of oral health with systemic health and to determine how oral health fits within the contexts of these larger research initiatives. Projects have been developed from these efforts and now have independent project descriptions: (1) evaluating the utility of oral biomarkers for systemic diseases and conditions using saliva as a matrix for the biochemical validation of fat intake among women enrolled in the Women's Health Trial Minority Feasibility Study; (2) an investigation of oral hard tissue status in relation to skeletal bone mineral density measures and osteoporosis on a subsample of women enrolled in the observational component of the Women's Health Initiative at a designated bone density center; and (3) the oral manifestations of HIV infection in women.
