Oral Diseases and Disorders Research - Training, Institutional

Progress in dental, oral, and craniofacial (DOC) science depends on the availability of a talented, well-prepared workforce. NIDCR institutional training grants support students in grades K-12, undergraduate and predoctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and clinicians across a broad portfolio of basic, translational, and clinical research training in DOC sciences. NIDCR research areas of programmatic interest encompass DOC tissue mineralization and developmental anomalies; head and neck cancers; oral microbiology, including HIV/AIDS; orofacial pain and temporomandibular joint disorders; and salivary gland and rheumatic diseases. The portfolio also includes preclinical and translational research to advance precision medicine, computational and data science, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, and the development of biomaterials and devices and immunomodulatory oral science, with the goal of accelerating translation, regulatory readiness, and clinical adoption of DOC-specific innovations. In addition, NIDCR supports patient-oriented, population, and community-based research aimed at improving DOC health across the nation. This includes biomedical and behavioral clinical trials, DOC health and epidemiology, and studies of fundamental biological processes.