During FY 2015, the NIDCR Office of Education made several accomplishments in enriching the career development experience of our trainees and in improving our recruitment of a diverse training pool. The Director, Dr. Deborah Philp, remains vigilant in the offices mission to enrich the training experience at NIDCR and to recruit talented student and postdoctoral researchers for the institute, organized a number of career development activities, and put great effort into the recruitment and training of students from diverse groups. NIDCR OE co-sponsored an intensive grant-writing workshop with training offices at NHGRI, NICHD, and NIAMS. Two NIDCR trainees were selected to participate in a grant-writing course entitled NIH Grant Writing Course - An In-Depth Workshop. The course gave participants the opportunity to write a rough draft of an NIH grant using their own data. As a part of their participation in this workshop, our trainees participated in a grant mock study section. The OE also sponsored the ninth annual NIDCR Fellows Scientific Retreat. Eighty-two graduate students, pre-doctoral IRTAs, Postdoctoral trainees, clinical fellows, staff scientists, biologists, and core facility staff were in attendance for the retreat along with the DIR Scientific Director, Deputy Scientific Director, Clinical Director, and Office of Education Staff. Activities at the event included: a keynote address by a former NIDCR trainee, five fifteen-minute oral presentations by attendees, three-minute-talk scientific presentations, two attendee poster sessions, and a career development workshop lead by titled Emotional Intelligence as a Tool for Personal and Career Growth. There was also a former trainee panel discussion careers after training at NIDCR. Feedback on the entire event deemed it a success; 100% of the fellows found the event topics helpful, and the vast majority of trainees would attend next year. The OE provided its annual grant-writing seminar from Grant Writers Seminars and Workshops, LLC. It was co-hosted with NEI, NHGRI, NICHD, and NIAMS. As in previous years, two half-day sessions were planned for the 70 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 afternoon session was a smaller workshop on developing the specific aims portion of a grant. NIDCR OE launched its inaugural participation in the Three Minute Talk Science Communication Competition. Fourteen graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and clinical fellows from three institutes competed as finalists in this event: five from NHGRI, five from NICHD, and four 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. They attended two training sessions lead by the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and had two one-on-one professional coaching sessions in public speaking. 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). NIDCR was among 14 institutes that participated in the One NIH exhibit at both conferences. Dr. Philp met with students, professors and researchers who were interested in research opportunities at NIDCR and disseminated training and research opportunity materials. Dr. Philp attended the ABRCMS conference in San Antonio, TX. NIDCR was a part of the One NIH exhibit at this conference. She met with students, professors and researchers who were interested in research opportunities at NIDCR and disseminated training and research opportunity materials. In addition, Dr. Philp participated in a panel discussion and smaller round table meetings on career paths with a doctoral degree. She spoke with the audience about the research experience at NIDCR and NIH. In an effort to continue exposing potential trainees to the resources available at NIDCR, Dr. Philp, Intramural Training Director at NIDCR, attended the AADR conference. She coordinated and participated in a group presentation with Drs. Robert Angerer (Scientific Director) and Janice Lee (Clinical Director) 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. The OE was also able to successfully fund a postbaccalaureate training experience for yet another pre-dental student from an underrepresented group in biomedical research. This trainee was recruited by Dr. Philp at the ABRCMS conference in 2013 and is now a first year dental student. Training program outreach recruitment efforts of the OE have proven advantageous. This is reflected in the diverse student population in our summer research program. This year, twenty-nine high school, undergraduate, dental and medical students as participants in the 2015 NIH Summer Internship Program. Twelve of these students were NIDCR Summer Dental Student Award (SDSA) recipients. In fostering our outreach efforts, the Office of Education provided summer internship opportunities for two outstanding students from underrepresented groups in biomedical research as a part of this group. These students pursued internships at NIH as a direct result of either meeting Dr. Philp at a minority student conference or discussing training opportunities with other recruiting staff from NIH at different venues. In addition to the many activities lead by the Office of Education, the Director of the Office, Dr. Deborah Philp, was a member of the planning committee for the creation of the NIH High School Scientific Training and Enrichment Program (HISTEP). The goal of HISTEP is to expand the pipeline of students interested in biomedical and healthcare careers by expanding opportunities for high school students from schools with a large population of financially disadvantaged students. High school sophomores, juniors, and seniors interested in STEM-M (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medically-related) fields participated in a five-week summer program that allowed students to explore scientific research and current topics in human health disparities. In addition, students received coaching in college preparation and career advising. Dr. Philp served as a summer mentor to three of these students.
