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Related Announcements

NOT-DE-22-020 - Notice to Extend the Response Date for NIH Guide NOT-DE-22-019, RFI: Request for Information on Augmenting Research Training and Engaging Scientists in Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research Careers

Issued by

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)

Purpose

\The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit public input on ways to augment research training and sustain progression along dental, oral, and craniofacial (DOC) research career pathways. The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) is especially interested in effective ways to address current, emerging, and future research needs, and to build and sustain a diverse research workforce, including various disciplines, as well as the inclusion of individuals from diverse backgrounds (e.g. see the Notice of the NIH’s Interest in Diversity) to enhance scientific discovery and innovation in DOC health.

Background

NIDCR supports individual and institutional research training with the goal to develop a strong and diverse research workforce. These research training opportunities span career stages from high school to established investigator and include programs focused on enhancing career transition and research independence (see Careers & Training). While these efforts have supported the development of a highly trained DOC research workforce, the number of DOC researchers and clinician scientists has declined in recent years. Therefore, there is an urgent need to attract individuals to careers in DOC research and build and develop the DOC research workforce to drive discovery and innovation and improve oral health. As stated in the NIDCR Strategic Plan (2021-2026), Strategic Priority #4, focuses on nurturing future generations of DOC researchers and oral health professional scholars who can address public health needs within a continually evolving landscape of science and technology advances. NIDCR is committed to diversifying pathways into research careers and expanding existing and new partnerships to advance NIDCR research.

Information Requested

In an effort to broaden perspectives on effective strategies and ways to increase, enhance, and sustain engagement in DOC research, NIDCR seeks input from biomedical and educational community stakeholders, including trainees (e.g., undergraduate, postbaccalaureate, DDS, DMD, DDS/DMD-PhD dual degree, PhD, postdoctoral, junior faculty), clinicians and researchers in academia and industry, members of scientific societies, professional and patient advocacy organizations, as well as from interested members of the public, addressing recruitment, research training, research capacity building, and research career progression and retention in DOC research careers. Testimonials from individuals who developed and implemented model programs or who were motivated to change to a DOC research career because of a training program are highly encouraged and welcomed. Input is invited on, but not limited to, the following topics:

• Engaging student interest in and enhancing recruitment into DOC research careers across a broad range of students, e.g., pre-Kindergarten grade 12 through graduate/professional student and postdoctoral scientists.

• Engaging different types of institutions e.g., community college, minority servicing institutions (MSIs), historically black college or universities (HBCUs) and other organizations or individuals who have interests or experiences in research training and/or recruitment of trainees into DOC research. .

• Promoting completion of degree programs and enriching the transition of scholars from one career level to the next, (e.g., predoctoral dual degree dentists-scientists to postdoctoral scholars and to independent research careers)

• Overcoming the challenges to motivate clinical or basic scientist to pursue research training and career development programs.

• Captivating the interest of scholars pursing research along with clinical training/clinical activities/teaching and/or scholars from a broad range of disciplines, e.g., physics, engineering, mathematics, data science) to pursue DOC research or collaborate with DOC investigators.
  

• Enhancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility among NIDCR-funded training programs.

• Enriching mentorship of trainees and early-stage DOC researchers to enhance research career progression.

• Establishing effective National, regional or local partnerships to advance DOC research and research training.

• Building and/or strengthening research capacity in academic institutions and dental schools to perform DOC research effectively and sustainably.

• Optimizing ways to evaluate trainees, trainee experiences, mentors/mentorship and training program outcomes and success based on well-defined metrics.

Submitting a Response

Please submit all responses to this RFI electronically to the following webpage at https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/careers-training/rfi-research-training-career-development by Monday, October 31, 2022.

Responses to this RFI are voluntary and may be submitted anonymously. Please do not include any personally identifiable information or any information that you do not wish to make public. Proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should not be included in your response. The Government will use the information submitted in response to this RFI at its discretion. The Government reserves the right to use any submitted information on public websites, in reports, in summaries of the state of the science, in any possible resultant solicitation(s), grant(s), or cooperative agreement(s), or in the development of future funding opportunity announcements.

This RFI is for informational and planning purposes only and is not a solicitation for applications or an obligation on the part of the Government to provide support for any ideas identified in response to it. Please note that the Government will not pay for the preparation of any information submitted or for use of that information.

We look forward to your input and hope that you will share this RFI opportunity with your colleagues.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Anissa J. Brown, PhD
National Institute of Dental and Caronifacial Research (NIDCR)
Telephone: (301) 594-4805
Email: anissa.brown@nih.gov

Lynn M. King, PhD
National Institute of Dental and Caronifacial Research (NIDCR)
Telephone: (301) 594-5006
Email: lynn.king@nih.gov

Additionally, inquires may be submitted to: NIDCR_RTCDB_RFI@nih.gov