NIDCR Administrative Supplements to Support Short-Term Dentist-Scientist Research Training

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  1. Goal
  2. Background
  3. Gaps and Opportunities
  4. Specific Areas of Interest
  5. References

September 2020

Research Training and Career Development Branch
Division of Extramural Activities (DEA)

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Goal

This initiative will support short-term, mentored research training for outstanding early career dentist-scientists who have demonstrated high potential and strong interest in pursuing careers as clinician-biomedical scientists. This initiative aims to retain dentist-scientists in the biomedical research workforce and addresses the need to foster the transition of dentist-scientists from dental specialty or residency training to faculty positions with independent NIH/NIDCR grant support. Prospective candidates must have a dental degree (with or without a PhD) and research experience, and to be near the completion or have recently completed a dental specialty or residency program. Up to 12 months of support will be provided during the last year and/or after dental specialty or residency training and will require a minimum of 75% research effort over the duration of support. The source of the funding will be through administrative supplements to active NIDCR research grants led by experienced investigators who will serve as research career mentors. Progress towards research career development and research independence will be guided by a structured plan of activities that includes the preparation of a competitive grant application for an individual NIDCR mentored career development award, or an independent research award. Up to 12 months of additional support will be considered for individuals who have demonstrated substantial progress in research and in submission of a grant application.

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Background

Building and sustaining the research careers of dentist-scientists is critical to ensuring a robust biomedical workforce that has both clinical and research expertise to contribute to research discovery and innovation in improving dental, oral and craniofacial health and health care. NIDCR invests in building the dentist-scientist research workforce through support of predoctoral dual degree DDS/DMD and PhD training and postdoctoral research training for dentist-scientists. Sustaining the dentist-scientist workforce requires attention to the unique challenges faced by these individuals, which include individual level factors, such as educational debt and for dentist-scientists who are full-time research faculty in dental schools, a decrease in award rates for NIH Research Project Grants between 1999 and 2012 from a high of 35.6% (2004) to 15.4 % (2012) (Physician-Scientist Workforce Report, 2014, Chapter 6: Dentist-Scientists), and Institutional factors including a 10% decrease in NIH extramural funding to dental schools between 2005 and 2014 (Ferland et. al., 2017).

Concerns about the loss of dentist-scientists and physician-scientists in the research pipeline and consideration of individual, institutional and national factors that may influence retention, has resulted in a number of strategies for new pilot programs: research opportunities during residency; protected time for research; new entries into research along the research career pathway, experienced and sustained mentorship, mentored grant writing experience, and mentorship networks, including peer to peer or near-peer mentoring to sustain a diverse workforce (Diversity in the Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group Report 2012; Hall et. al., 2017; Jain et. al., 2019; Permar et. al., 2020; Williams et al., 2018).

NIDCR research training and career development programs currently support approximately 298 trainees, spanning postbaccalaureate to independent investigator career stages. The dentist-scientist research career pathway includes 57 dual degree DDS/DMD-PhD predoctoral students (20% of total trainees) supported by individual F30 fellowships and T32/T90 institutional training grants, and 44 postdoctoral and junior faculty dentist-scientists (15% of total trainees) supported by individual K awards (n=25), institutional awards (n=16) and diversity supplements (n=3).

For recently graduated dual degree dentist-scientist and dentist-scientists who have not pursued an integrated dual degree pathway, NIDCR offers funding opportunities that support full time postdoctoral research training (F32 postdoctoral fellowships, Institutional T32/T90 postdoctoral training for citizens and R90 for non-citizen dentists) and research career development opportunities (K01, K08, K23, K99/R00) requiring a minimum of 75% research effort. The remaining 25% may be used for administrative, teaching, or clinical activities, including part-time dental specialty training. Between 2010-2020, among 45 dentist-scientist K01, K08 and K23 awardees; 11 (24%) have no dental specialty training; 29 (64%) completed specialty training before the K (20 dentist-PhDs; 9 dentists without a PhD); 3 (6%) dentist-PhDs pursued specialty training during the K; 2 (4%) dentists pursued specialty and PhD training during the K; and 1 (2%) dentist completed specialty training after the K award.

To prepare dentists for academic faculty research positions, NIDCR has long supported doctoral (PhD) research training for dentists and has encouraged concurrent part time clinical training in a recognized dental specialty. To provide an additional pathway for dentists to pursue dental specialty and graduate (PhD) research training, NIDCR developed a K12 Institutional Dental Specialty and PhD Program (DSPP) to strengthen the dentist-scientist pipeline.

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Gaps and Opportunities

There are two transition points along the dentist-scientist research career pathway where individuals are especially vulnerable to diverging from a research career trajectory: the transition from predoctoral to postdoctoral positions, and for dentists-scientists who pursue dental specialty training, the transition from dental specialty/residency to postdoctoral research or junior faculty positions. Following completion of dual degree DDS/DMD-PhD training, most graduates enter dental specialty/residency training or private practice (Physician-Scientist Workforce Report, 2014, Chapter 6: Dentist-Scientists; Herzog et. al., 2018). Thus, it is critical to provide opportunities for funding and mentored research training at these career transition points.

This initiative complements existing programs and expands the continuum of opportunities for dentist-scientist postdoctoral research training by providing up to 12 months of funding through administrative supplements to existing NIDCR grants to support the transition between dental specialty/residency training and successful competition for a K, K99/R00, or research project grant award. A dentist-scientist mentor or co-mentor must be included to enhance the development of the dentist-scientist’s career trajectory. This program is intended to stimulate dentist-scientists continued engagement in research by providing flexibility in mentorship, allowing any NIDCR funded, experienced investigator to serve as a research mentor; flexibility in timing, providing 75% protected time for research experiences that are concurrent or after the last year of specialty or residency training, and will support both U.S. citizens and non-citizens. Strongly justified requests for up to 12 months of additional support may be considered. The administrative supplement applications will be reviewed by NIDCR extramural staff. Awards will provide salary support and research development costs.

This initiative aligns with the goals of the NIH Loan Repayment Program to retain clinicians in the biomedical research workforce by repaying qualified educational debit in return for a commitment to engage in NIH mission-relevant research for at least 50% effort.

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Specific Areas of Interest

NIDCR is interested in supporting postdoctoral dentist-scientists who:

  • have completed, or are within one year of completing, an advanced dental specialty or residency program,
  • can demonstrate research productivity prior to the request for supplement support and exceptional commitment to an independent research career; and
  • can justify the need for short-term support for research and career development experiences including the preparation of an application for an individual NIH mentored career development award, career transition award, or an independent research award.

The program would be published as a Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) in response to the NIH Parent PA-18-591 Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional).

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References

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Last Reviewed
April 2024