The NIDCR Office of Education (OE) made several accomplishments during FY 2019 that enriched the career development experience of DIR trainees and enriched diversity in our trainee population. The OE co-sponsored an intensive grant-writing workshop with training offices at NHGRI, NICHD, NEI, and NIAMS. Four 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, in conjunction with four NIH institutes (NEI, NHGRI, NICHD, and NIAMS), provided an annual grant-writing one day seminar from Grant Writing Mentors, LLC for 65 intramural trainees (10 attendees from NIDCR). The morning portion of this 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 discussed possible pitfalls that may be encountered and good draft review strategies. The afternoon session included a career discussion titled Mapping Your Research Career- Opportunities and Challenges followed by breakout discussion sessions in the following areas: Physician Scientists- the Rewards and Challenges; Human Subjects/Client Trials, Writing Your Specific Aims, successful, and Writing Techniques for Grant Applications. In addition, the OE co-sponsored offering a training curriculum for a certificate program led by SciPhD titled the business of Science for Scientists: Core Professional Skills that Make You Competitive for a Professional Career. This four month training certificate training was co-sponsored with four other ICs: NICHD, NHGRI, NIAMS and NINR. NIDCR OE hosted the 2019 Fellows Scientific Training on April 4th at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC. This year, one hundred and two graduate students, pre-doctoral IRTAs, Postdoctoral trainees, clinical fellows, staff scientists, and biologists were in attendance for this one day session along with the DIR Office of the Scientific Director Staff and OE Staff. Activities at the event included: a keynote address by Billy Hudson, PhD, research investigator at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, NIDCR new investigator spotlight of Laura Kerosuo Pahlberg, PhD, four fifteen-minute oral presentations by attendees, six three-minute-talk/open mic oral presentations, two attendee poster sessions (50 posters), career-focused round table discussions led by invited NIDCR and NIH trainee alumni (Catherine Evans, PhD (NIDCR), Diala, El-Maouche, MD (FDA), Santosh Mishra, PhD (North Carolina State University), Shira Perl, MD (AstraZeneca), Natalie Porat-Shliom, PhD (NCI), and Darien Weatherspoon, DDS, MPH (NIDCR)), and a science comedy presentation by Ms. Kasha Patel gave a comedic presentation titled When Science Communication Goes Right (and Wrong). The final activity was a DIR Leadership meeting session with the attendees. Drs. Hoffman and Young answered questions from the group and had an insightful discussion. On June 27th, NIDCR OE cosponsored the annual NIH Three Minute Talk Science Communication Competition. This event was cosponsored by five ICs: NICHD, NHGRI, NEI, and NIAMS. Fifteen graduate students, postbac IRTAs, postdoctoral fellows, and clinical fellows from three institutes competed as finalists in this event (one 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 also 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. This year, our investigators also took advantage of the coaching sessions being offered. The OE coordinated mandatory training sessions led by the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education to introduce the new anti-harassment and relationship policies for trainees and staff. Intramural NIDCR continues to focus the recruitment of student researchers from diverse groups for training programs at NIH and the dissemination of research funding resources to the public. In an effort to inform and recruit trainees from all backgrounds, OE staff represented NIDCR at several research conferences. These conferences include: the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science Conference (SACNAS), the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), the National Dental Association annual conference (NDA), and the Hispanic Dental Association (HDA) joint conference with the National Medical Hispanic Association conference. The OE director met with students, professors and researchers who were interested in research opportunities at NIDCR and disseminated training and research opportunity materials at both conferences. At the ABRCMS conference, she also participated in small group discussions on intramural training opportunities at NIH. In addition, the OE represented NIDCR at a 1-day training recruitment session held at Howard University on September 24. 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 to discuss training opportunities at NIH. In September 2019, the Director of the OE will lead an informational session on training opportunities at NIDCR for invited researchers participating in the 2019 International Summit in Human Genetics and Genomics. In an effort to continue offering potential trainees information on the training resources available at NIDCR, the OE provided presentation slides and talking points on the DIR training programs and fellowships to training officers and leadership that attended the joint IADR/AADR conference last June in Vancouver, Canada. Training program outreach recruitment efforts of the OE are reflected in the diverse student population in our summer research program. This year, NIDCR hosted sixteen high school, undergraduate, dental and medical students as NIH Summer Interns. Eight of these students were NIDCR Summer Dental Student Award (SDSA) recipients. In addition to the many activities led by the OE, the office director 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. OE leadership served as chair of the selection committee for the NIDCR Directors Fellowship to Enhance Diversity in Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research. The director coordinated application review, selection review criteria, organization of the selection committee, maintained all contact with the applicants, and established the initial program curriculum. This fellowship will be managed directly by the OE. OE leadership served as lead in the development and successful execution of the Sang-A Park Memorial Postdoctoral Fellowship. Application review and selection are currently being performed. This fellowship will be managed directly by the OE.
