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NIDCR Establishes National Dental Practice-Based Research Network
 The NIDCR has awarded a $66.8 million, seven-year grant that consolidates its dental practice-based research network initiative into a unified nationally coordinated effort.
The consolidated initiative, called the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network (NDPBRN), is headquartered at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Dentistry. It serves as a national administrative hub that leads and oversees six smaller regional research sites, or nodes. The nodes are located in Rochester, NY; Gainesville, FL; Birmingham, AL; Minneapolis, MN; San Antonio, TX; and Portland, OR.
A dental practice-based research network is an investigative union of practicing dentists and academic scientists. The network provides practitioners with an opportunity to propose and participate in research studies that address day-to-day issues in oral healthcare. The studies, conducted in participating dental offices with consenting patients, help to expand the profession’s evidence base and further refine care. Read more:
http://go.usa.gov/mhi
FY 2013 Budget Statement
 Read the NIDCR Director's statement for the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee regarding the FY 2013 budget request:
http://go.usa.gov/mh3
NIDCR to Cosponsor 1st Symposium on Head & Neck Cancer  Stem Cells
NIDCR is co-sponsoring the 1st Symposium on Head & Neck Cancer Stem Cells, May 10-11 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The symposium will focus on the role of stem cells in head and neck carcinogenesis.
The goal of the symposium is to present and discuss the most recent advances in the area of cancer stem cell biology, stimulate state-of-the-art collaborative new research projects in this field, and use the new knowledge to design safer and more effective therapies for head and neck cancer patients. For additional information and to register see:
http://sites.google.com/site/headandnecksymposium/
Attack of the S. Mutans! Featured at April 2012 USA Science & Engineering Expo
 Attack of the S. mutans! will be featured at the NIDCR booth for the April 2012 USA Science & Engineering Expo in Washington, D.C. The Expo is free of charge and will be open to the public on Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29.
Created by Firsthand Technology and the University of Washington School of Dentistry with funding from NIDCR and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Attack of the S. mutans! is a 3-D interactive game that aims to advance oral health while assessing how the use of games can change human behavior. See additional details about the game and the Expo:
http://go.usa.gov/yal |
NIH News
How Much Does NIH Fund for a Specific Research Category?
 In February, NIH released its latest set of numbers (actual Fiscal Year 2011 spending) on support levels for diseases, conditions, and areas of research. The numbers, based on grants, contracts, and other funding mechanisms used across the NIH, are available on the NIH RePORT's Categorical Spending page:
http://report.nih.gov/rcdc/categories/
The page shows actual funding levels by year for each category, as well as funding estimates for the next two fiscal years. Clicking on a number will provide a detailed project listing for your category of interest; additional information about each project is available by clicking on the project number.
[Note: Research categories are not mutually exclusive. Individual research projects can be included in multiple categories so amounts depicted within each column of this table do not add up to 100 percent of NIH-funded research.]
Meeting of New Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee
The Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (IPRCC) held their inaugural meeting on the NIH campus on March 27. NIDCR Director Martha J. Somerman serves as a member of the IPRCC. Information about this committee, as well as the meeting agenda and materials, can be found on the committee website:
http://iprcc.nih.gov/index.htm
The videocast of the full meeting is available at:
http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?Live=10981
NIH Office of Extramural Research Blog: On Communicating Science
Each month Dr. Sally Rockey, NIH's Deputy Director for Extramural Research, writes a blog called "Rock Talk" covering topics of special interest to the extramural community. Her latest posting "On Communicating Science" discusses the importance of writing about science in a way that is easily understood by all, whether it be for a manuscript, grant application, or presentation:
http://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/rock-talk/
Sign up to receive her blog at:
http://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/subscribe/
NIH Awards $20M Over Five Years to Train Next Generation of Global Health Researchers
 To help foster the next generation of global health scientists, the Fogarty International Center and its partners at the NIH-- including the NIDCR--are building a network of U.S. academic institutions to provide early-career physicians, veterinarians, dentists and scientists with a significant mentored research experience in a developing country.
About $20.3 million in total will be awarded over the next five years to support 400 early-career health scientists on nearly year-long research fellowships in 27 low- and middle-income countries. The Fogarty Global Health Program for Fellows and Scholars program will provide five consortia of academic institutions with about $4 million each to support the training activities of a total of 20 partner institutions.
NIH’s New Online Tool Helps Navigate Genetic Tests
An online tool launched by NIH will make it easier to navigate the rapidly changing landscape of genetic tests. The free resource, called the Genetic Testing Registry (GTR), is available at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gtr/
Genetic tests currently exist for about 2,500 diseases, and the field continues to grow rapidly. To keep pace, GTR will be updated frequently, using data voluntarily submitted by genetic test providers. Such information will include the purpose of each genetic test and its limitations; the name and location of the test provider; whether it is a clinical or research test; what methods are used; and what is measured. GTR will contain no confidential information about people who receive genetic tests or individual test results.
"It is a tremendous resource for all who are struggling to make sense of the complex world of genetic testing," said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. "This registry will help a lot of people — from health care professionals looking for answers to their patients’ diseases to researchers seeking to identify gaps in scientific knowledge."
1000 Genomes Project Data Available on Amazon Cloud
 The world's largest set of data on human genetic variation--produced by the international 1000 Genomes Project--is now publicly available on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/1000genomes/
The public-private collaboration demonstrates the kind of solutions that may emerge from the Big Data Research and Development Initiative announced by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The initiative will initially engage at least six federal agencies -- including the NIH, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Energy--committing more than $200 million to a collaborative effort to develop core technologies and other resources needed by researchers to manage and analyze enormous data sets.
Among the NIH components participating in the Big Data initiative are the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the NIH National Center for Biotechnology Information, a division of the National Library of Medicine. For additional information see:
http://www.nih.gov/news/health/mar2012/nhgri-29.htm
NIH and Lilly to Generate Public Resource of Approved and Investigational Medicines
 NIH and Eli Lilly and Company will generate a publicly available resource to profile the effects of thousands of approved and investigational medicines in a variety of sophisticated disease-relevant testing systems. Comprehensive knowledge of the biological profiles of these medicines and molecules may enable biomedical researchers to better predict treatment outcomes, improve drug development, and lead to more specific and effective approaches.
Through the collaboration, NIH's newly established National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and Lilly Research Laboratories have agreed that NCATS’ Pharmaceutical Collection of 3,800 approved and investigational medicines will be screened using Lilly’s state-of-the-art Phenotypic Drug Discovery (PD2) panel. This panel features assays designed to reveal novel mechanisms or pathways of potential medicines and, as part of this collaboration, approved medicines as well. As such, the panel may provide new insights for drug discovery:
http://www.nih.gov/news/health/mar2012/ncats-13.htm
NIH Launches Online Resource on Behavioral and Social Science Research Methods
A Web-based interactive anthology will provide psychologists, economists, anthropologists, sociologists and other scientists with the latest research methods and tools to address emerging challenges in public health, such as the obesity epidemic and the rise of chronic diseases such as heart disease. NIH's Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research collaborated with New England Research Institutes to create the free resource, called e-Source:
http://www.esourceresearch.org/
Because behavioral and social scientists come from widely varying disciplines-- from political science to social work research-- there is a need for a central resource for current, high quality behavioral and social science research methods. With contributions from international experts, the anthology provides authoritative answers to methodological questions and sets quality standards for the research community. The goal of the program is to demonstrate the potential of behavioral and social science research, focusing on applying research findings to public health activities and the potential to enhance biomedical research. It is also a useful training resource for biological scientists, providing them with a basic foundation for collaborations with behavioral and social scientists.
NIH Pain Consortium Announces the 7th Annual Pain Consortium Symposium 
Registration is now open for the 7th Annual NIH Pain Consortium Symposium, Novel Approaches and Therapy Development for Pain Management, which will be held in conjunction with a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) workshop, Assessment of Analgesic Treatment of Chronic Pain, from May 29 - 31, 2012 on the NIH campus.
The NIH Pain Consortium Symposium will focus on research advances related to therapy development of novel opioid analgesic formulations and approaches, novel nonopioid analgesic development and testing, and nonpharmacological strategies as adjuncts to pain management. Presentations will highlight NIH-funded studies that have made significant contributions to advancing the field of pain research. Members of the extramural scientific community, the NIH scientific community, health care providers, advocates, and the public are invited to attend.
The FDA workshop, hosted by the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, will begin at 1 p.m. on May 30, immediately following the adjournment of the NIH Pain Consortium Symposium. It will include a discussion of available data on the efficacy of analgesics in the treatment of chronic noncancer pain (CNCP). Presentations and discussions by scientific experts and other stakeholder groups will focus on available clinical data from randomized clinical trials and other studies of the efficacy of opioid analgesics, and comparison of that data to data from studies of nonopioid analgesics used in the treatment of CNCP.
Information and registration information for both events is found at:
http://painconsortium.nih.gov/
Dr. Gary H. Gibbons Named New Director of National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
 NIH Director Francis S. Collins M.D., Ph.D., has announced the selection of Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., as the new director of the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Dr. Gibbons is the founder and current director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute, chairperson of the Department of Physiology, and professor of physiology and medicine at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. He expects to start his new position in the summer of 2012. Susan B. Shurin, M.D., will continue as acting director of NHLBI until then, at which point she will resume her role as the institute's deputy director. |