ORAL CONDITIONS AND HEALTH OUTCOMES IN FRAIL ELDERS

以患者为导向的指导研究职业发展奖（K23）将为PI提供80%的保护时间，以开发牙科医学中以患者为导向的研究的设计，实施和分析方面的专业知识。拟议的职业发展计划建立在候选人对老年牙科和流行病学的兴趣和早期培训的基础上。该五年计划旨在使候选人获得波士顿大学牙科医学院牙科公共卫生领域的理学博士学位。职业发展计划建议在她的项目的前两年进行教学工作的初始阶段，以及涉及VA规范老龄化研究数据的二次数据分析的监督研究经验。这将为候选人提供必要的准备，以开展她所提议的论文研究项目，该项目涉及在波士顿大学和波士顿医疗中心对社区居住的虚弱老年人进行口腔健康干预研究。候选人将由经验丰富的研究人员指导，他们在指导研究学员的工作方面有成功的记录。这个K23项目将充分利用与波士顿大学医学中心和附属机构的研究人员的积极研究合作，并为候选人提供广泛的以患者为导向的研究机会。反过来，这些由美国国立卫生研究院、退伍军人管理局、企业和基金会资助的现有的以患者为导向的研究项目，将因候选人参与这些项目的能力而受益。方案将有机会在口腔健康决定全身性疾病和生活质量结果领域现有研究项目的基础上进一步发展，并特别注重对老年人弱势群体的研究。

The Mentored Patient-Oriented Research career Development Award (K23) will provide protected time, at 80 percent effort, for the PI to develop expertise in the design, conduct, and analysis of patient-oriented research in dental medicine. The proposed career development plan builds on the candidate's interests in, and earlier training in, geriatric dentistry and epidemiology. The five-year plan is designed to lead to the candidate receiving the degree Doctor of Science, in the area of dental public health, from the Boston University School of Dental Medicine. The career development plan proposes an initial period of didactic work, together with a supervised research experience involving a secondary data analysis of VA Normative Aging Study data, in the first two years of her program. This will provide the candidate with the preparation needed to carry out her proposed dissertation research project involving an oral health intervention study in a cohort of community-dwelling frail elders being followed at Boston University and Boston Medical Center. The candidate will be mentored by experienced investigators who have a successful track record of guiding the work of research trainees. This K23 program will take full advantage of active research collaborations with investigators at the Boston University Medical Center and affiliated institutions, and provide the candidate with a broad exposure to patient-oriented research. In turn, these existing patient-oriented research projects, funded by the NIH, the VA, and corporate and foundation sponsors, will benefit by the ability to involve the candidate in these programs. The PI will have the opportunity to build on existing research projects in the area of oral health determinants of systemic disease and quality of life outcomes, with a special focus on the study of vulnerable populations of elders.