During FY 2018, the NIDCR Office of Education (OE) made several accomplishments that enriched the career development experience of DIR trainees and improved our recruitment of a diverse training pool. The Director, Dr. Deborah Philp, remains vigilant to recruit talented student and postdoctoral researchers for the institute from all backgrounds. The office has also organized several career development activities. The OE co-sponsored an intensive grant-writing workshop with training offices at NHGRI, NICHD, NEI, and NIAMS. Six NIDCR trainees were selected to participate in a grant-writing course entitled NIH Grant Writing Course - An In-Depth Workshop. As a part of their participation in this workshop, our trainees participated in a grant mock study section. The OE also provided an annual grant-writing seminar from Grant Writers Seminars and Workshops, LLC. It was co-hosted with NEI, NHGRI, NICHD, and NIAMS. Two half-day sessions were planned 65 attendees. The morning session was a seminar on the key changes in preparation of NIH Applications. Participants were lead through interactive exercises on how to write and submit successful research grant using the latest NIH guidelines to grant submission. The presenter also discussed possible pitfalls that they may encounter and good draft review strategies. The afternoon session was an intimate workshop on developing the specific aims portion of a grant. The OE sponsored the 2018 Fellows Scientific Training on April 19-20 at the John Edward Porter Neuroscience Research Center (Building 35A) on NIH Campus in Bethesda, MD. Fifty-eignt graduate students, pre-doctoral IRTAs, Postdoctoral trainees, clinical fellows, staff scientists, and biologists were in attendance for the retreat along with the DIR Scientific Director and Office of Education Staff. Activities at the event included: a keynote address by Briana Pobiner, PhD, Research Scientist and Museum Educator at Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History, five fifteen-minute oral presentations by attendees, five three-minute-talk/open mic oral presentations, two attendee poster sessions, and three career development workshops. The first career development workshop titled taking charge of your training experience was led by Dr. Sharon Milgram, OITE Director. Two concurrent career development workshops were run on day two. Christina Farias, MBA, CEO/Executive Director of FAES, led a session titled Scientific Career Planning. Scott Morgan of the Scott Morgan Group, led workshop titled the Art of Negotiation. NIDCR Leadership participated in a meeting session with the attendees. Drs. Somerman, Sheeley, Lee and Angerer answered questions from the group that gave our trainees and had an insightful discussion. Dr. Achim Werner was featured as our new investigator spotlight presentation. The final training activity was comedic presentation by author and researcher Dr. Adam Ruben. His talk, titled Surviving Your Stupid, Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School provided a comedic chronology of his career path in the sciences and offered important information on career options with a PhD. On June 28th, NIDCR OE cosponsored the annual NIH Three Minute Talk Science Communication Competition. This year, two new ICs were invited to participate in this event: NICHD, NHGRI, NEI, and NIAMS. Fifteen graduate students, postbac IRTAs, postdoctoral fellows, and clinical fellows from three institutes competed as finalists in this event (three from NIDCR). Participants in this competition received professional training how to effectively communicate their scientific research to a broad scientific audience using a single power point slide. In addition, they had two one-on-one professional coaching sessions in public speaking. The OE played an essential role in the preparation of our trainees and staff for BSC presentations. The Office organized skill seminars on how to give a brief scientific presentation and coordinated one-on-one coaching sessions for all BSC presenters. The seminars and coaching sessions were well attended. Intramural NIDCR continues to focus the recruitment of student researchers from diverse groups for training programs at NIH. In an effort to inform and recruit trainees from all backgrounds, Dr. Philp, represented NIDCR at several research conferences. These conferences include: the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science Conference (SACNAS) and the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS). Dr. Philp met with students, professors and researchers who were interested in research opportunities at NIDCR and disseminated training and research opportunity materials at both conferences. Dr. Philp also participated in small group discussions on intramural training opportunities at NIH. Dr. Philp represented NIDCR at an undergraduate training recruitment session held at Howard University. Several NIH institutes were in attendance for this event along with Uniformed Health Services and the Navy. She met with undergraduate students, dental students, graduate students, and postdoctoral trainees. The STEM Accelerator program at George Mason University invited Dr. Philp to give a presentation on training opportunities at NIH. This session was well attended by the undergraduate students at the school. The OE hosted a visit from trainees participating in the ADA Dental Student Research Conference. As a part of their half-day visit to NIDCR, the OE coordinated the following activities for the 50 attendees: a panel discussion with DIR staff (moderated by Dr. Philp), brief presentations from the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network, the NIDCR Dental Public Health Residency Program, Sjogrens Clinic, and a clinical fellow research presentation. A group tour of the NIDCR Dental Clinic and poster presentations by three postdoctoral fellows were also part of the activities. In an effort to continue exposing potential trainees to the resources available at NIDCR, Dr. Philp attended the AADR conference in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. She participated in a group presentation on Intramural research training opportunities She was also available for appointments at the NIDCR exhibit booth with any attendees that were interested in learning more about training programs at NIDCR. Training program outreach recruitment efforts of the OE are reflected in the diverse student population in our summer research program. This year, NIDCR hosted twenty-eight high school, undergraduate, dental and medical students as NIH Summer Interns. Twelve of these students were NIDCR Summer Dental Student Award (SDSA) recipients. In addition to the many activities lead by the OE, Dr. Philp was a member of the planning and selection committees for the NIH High School Scientific Training and Enrichment Program (HISTEP). High school students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds interested in STEM-M (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medically-related) fields participated in a five-week summer program to explore scientific research and current topics in human health disparities. Training program outreach recruitment efforts of the Office have proven advantageous. This is reflected in the diverse student population in our summer research program. This year, twenty-five high school, undergraduate, dental and medical students as participants in the 2018 NIH Summer Internship Program. Twelve of these students were NIDCR Summer Dental Student Award (SDSA) recipients. Dr. Philp worked collaboratively with NIDCR colleagues on the development and successful execution of the NIDCR Directors Fellowship to Enhance Diversity in Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research. This fellowship will be run directly by Dr. Philp and the OE.
