Spring 2025
NIDCR News
Explore NIDCR’s new Data-Driven Science Hub (DDS Hub), a central resource that assists investigators with conducting data-driven research in the dental, oral, and craniofacial fields. The DDS Hub guides investigators to scientific data, resources and analytical tools, training materials, data sharing and management best practices, and policy guidance. Visit the DDS Hub to find information on data, training, tutorials, funding opportunities, and more. Share your feedback at ddshub@mail.nih.gov.
Lynn King, Ph.D., retired on January 11, 2025, as the Director of Extramural Activities (DEA). She first joined NIDCR as a scientific review officer in 2001. While at NIDCR, she led efforts to advance dentist-scientists’ careers and supported training and career development of the research workforce. Research Training and Career Development Program Chief Michele McGuirl, Ph.D., currently serves as Acting DEA Director.
George R. Martin, Ph.D., a world-renowned connective tissue biologist and co-inventor of Matrigel®, died on January 1st, 2025, at 91. He held senior roles at the National Institute of Dental Research (now NIDCR) and at the National Institute on Aging. Dr. Martin remained an NIDCR special volunteer through 2024. Dr. Martin’s former colleagues and trainees praised his mentorship, insight, and contagious love of science.
Training News
Two new staff members have recently joined NIDCR’s Research Training and Career Development Branch. Michele McGuirl, Ph.D., is now the branch chief and oversees the institutional training programs. Chantel Fuqua, Ph.D., is a program officer who oversees fellowships. Shoba Thirumangalathu, Ph.D., remains the lead of career development (K) programs. We wish Anissa Brown, Ph.D., and Rachel Saré, Ph.D., success in their new positions at other NIH institutes.
Attending the 2025 meeting from March 12 to 15? Check out the poster session for NIDCR-supported trainees on Wednesday, March 12, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET. For those who registered in advance, the AADOCR/CADR/NIDCR Mentoring and Networking Lunch will take place on Wednesday, March 12, from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. ET. For additional details about these events, visit the meeting program.
Science Advances
How do teeth grow? In mice, researchers found that multiplying cells in the developing jaw create pressure that triggers the formation of a tooth-building command center called the enamel knot. Understanding how a tooth develops may offer insight into how disorders arise in newborns and how to rebuild other damaged tissues and organs.
Meet NIDCR Stadtman Investigator Blake Warner, D.D.S., Ph.D., who studies why immune cells go rogue and attack healthy salivary glands in Sjögren’s disease — an autoimmune disorder marked by dry mouth. What he learns from patients may one day lead to better treatments and shed light on the relationship between infections like COVID-19 and oral health.
An NIDCR-supported study using artificial intelligence showed that a smaller lower jawbone may strain the jaw joint and could predict a person’s risk of painful jaw problems called temporomandibular disorders. The findings may help explain why women and people with a certain form of overbite, who typically have smaller jaws, are more likely to develop these disorders.
Grantee News
Innate Immune Training Aggravates Inflammatory Bone Loss
How Healthy Stem Cells Turn Into Oral Cancer
New Study Identifies How Blood Vessel Dysfunction Can Worsen Chronic Disease
An Earful of Gill: USC Stem Cell Study Points to the Evolutionary Origin of the Mammalian Outer Ear
Non-Opioid Pain Relievers Beat Opioids After Dental Surgery
Researchers Reveal Mechanisms Underlying Sjögren’s Disease
With New Imaging Approach, ADA Forsyth Scientists Closely Analyze Microbial Adhesive Interactions
NIH/HHS News
NIH researchers developed an artificial intelligence algorithm to help speed up the process of matching potential volunteers to relevant clinical research trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov. The algorithm, called TrialGPT, could help clinicians navigate the vast and ever-changing list of clinical trials available to their patients ― including those at NIDCR ― which may accelerate clinical enrollment and research.