E-Newsletter: February 3, 2011

In this Issue:
1. Funding Opportunity News
2. NIDCR News
3. NIH News
4. NIDCR Science Advances

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NEWS

PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENTS

Clinical Research/Clinical Trials

REQUESTS FOR APPLICATIONS

Behavioral/Social Science Research

NOTICES

NIDCR NEWS

Congressionally Mandated Report on Advancing Pain Research, Care, and Education
NIDCR is serving as the lead Institute in an NIH effort to convene an ad hoc committee with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to produce a congressionally mandated report on pain research, care, and education.  The committee will:

--Focus on the public health significance of pain
--Identify barriers to appropriate pain care and strategies to reduce such barriers
--Identify and discuss what scientific tools and technologies are available to advance basic, translational, and clinical pain research and improve the assessment, diagnosis, treatment and management of pain
--Explore strategies that can be employed to enhance training of pain researchers
--Discuss opportunities for public-private partnerships in the support and conduct of pain research, care, and education

An introductory meeting of the IOM Panel was held on November 22-23. A second meeting, focusing on data collection on pain at the federal level and opportunities for public-private partnerships, took place on January 4.  A third meeting will be held on February 8 and will include discussions on the basic science of pain and barriers to pain care.  All public meetings include the opportunity for public comment.  The report, due to Congress in the summer of 2011, will be a state-of-the-science document outlining the current status of pain research, pain care and pain care disparities, pain education, and future directions for pain research. 

In addition, NIDCR is serving as the NIH lead Institute in coordinating an Institute of Medicine conference on pain as mandated in the recently passed health care reform legislation.

2010 David E. Barmes Lecture Global Health Lecture Rescheduled 
Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, will discuss "Addressing Grand Challenges: The Role of Science in Global Health Development" when he presents the (rescheduled) 2010 David E. Barmes Global Health Lecture on Tuesday, February 15 at 11:00 a.m.  The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place in Masur Auditorium (Building 10) on the NIH campus.  It also will be videocast at:
http://videocast.nih.gov/ 
The USAID has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for almost 50 years.  Recently, the agency unveiled a new approach that will support President Obama’s vision for high-impact global development, announced by the White House in September.  For more information see:
http://www.usaid.gov/unga/ppd.html
Also see Dr. Shah's biography:
http://www.usaid.gov/about_usaid/bios/bio_rshah.html 

Jointly sponsored by the NIDCR and the Fogarty International Center, the annual lecture series honors the late David E. Barmes, a longstanding World Health Organization employee, special expert for international health at NIDCR, and ardent spokesman for global health.  

NIH NEWS

NIH Proposes New National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
NIH is proposing the formation of a new Center focused on accelerating the development and delivery of new, more effective therapeutics. The Center is envisioned to be a tremendous resource for the entire translational science community. It would develop and offer innovative services and expertise in moving promising products through the development pipeline, as well as develop novel approaches to therapeutics development, stimulate new avenues for basic scientific discovery, and complement the strengths of existing NIH research activities.  The proposed Center would be formed initially by integrating selected translational research programs now located within the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), and the NIH Director’s Common Fund.  NIH hopes to have the reorganization take effect on October 1, 2011.  FAQs about the new Center are available at: 
http://feedback.nih.gov/index.php/faq-ncats/

Agenda Ideas Sought for Upcoming Tissue Engineering Workshop 
The Multi-Agency Tissue Engineering Science (MATES) Interagency Working Group, which is comprised of several federal research, regulatory, and funding agencies including the Food and Drug Administration, the NIH, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, will sponsor a workshop in the Summer/Fall of 2011 to engage the research community in identifying gaps and opportunities for the development and use of imaging methods in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. A Request for Information (RFI) has been issued to solicit information that will be useful in developing the agenda for this workshop: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-EB-11-001.html
Also see additional information about MATES:
http://www.tissueengineering.gov/

NIH to Offer New Clinical Research Opportunity
NIH has launched a new program in conjunction with the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation that will provide medical doctors with funding for patient-focused, clinical research projects. The goal is to bridge the widening gap between cutting-edge research and improved patient care.

The initiative, called the Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program, enables exceptional clinical researchers in the early stages of their careers to first spend 5 to 7 years at the NIH Clinical Center, the world's largest hospital dedicated to patient-oriented research, in Bethesda, MD.  Upon successful completion of this first stage, the scholars would be offered the opportunity to remain at the NIH as senior clinical research scientists or to apply for up to four years of independent financial support at a university or other external research institution.  See additional details about the program:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-11-001.html
http://www.nih.gov/news/health/dec2010/od-09.htm

NIGMS Director to Step Down
Jeremy M. Berg, Ph.D., director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) since 2003, is stepping down from his post to become associate senior vice chancellor for science strategy and planning in the health sciences at the University of Pittsburgh.  He also will be a faculty member in the department of computational and systems biology at the university's School of Medicine.  Dr. Berg plans to leave in June 2011, at which point an acting director will be named if the search for a new director is still under way.  

NIDCR SCIENCE ADVANCES
 

Balancing Offense and Defense
Scientists are now defining the bio-circuitry that powers some of the most destructive oral bacteria.  Here's an interesting case in point.




LIPS and Saliva
Researchers recently used saliva to test whether an experimental technique called LIPS could diagnose Sjögren’s syndrome.  See how the technique fared.
  

Building a Better Database
What does it take to compile a comprehensive database of the human oral microbiome?  Read about how the challenges are giving way to progress.