DENTIST-SCIENTIST TRAINING PROGRAM AT UCSF

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DESCRIPTION: This proposal requests funding for five years to establish an institutional Dentist Scientist Award (DSA) program at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) School of Dentistry. The program will enroll two DSA trainees annually who will pursue a program that integrates basic science knowledge and a research experience in a subdiscipline (biomaterials, cell interactions and tissue remodelling, craniofacial growth and development, neurobiology, viral and bacterial pathogenesis, host response) embodied within the Ph.D. programs in Oral Biology or Bioengineering. Clinical specialty certification will be obtained in one of six clinical areas: oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral medicine, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, periodontology or prosthodontics. The basic program will require 7 years and proposes augmentation of the 5-years of DSA funding with 2-years support from other sources. The program offers a variety of choices in research areas, individually tailored training programs, dedicated mentoring, and the opportunity for participation in research at the leading edges of biomedical science, with clinical education and training from well established and widely recognized specialty areas of excellence. The program builds on the research and clinical environment at UCSF and specific experiences with advanced training of dentists in their Ph.D. programs, as well as ongoing experiences with individual DSA trainees. Approximately 70 mentors and co-mentors will participate in the program offering scientific and clinical programs and resources. The establishment of the DSA is envisioned as a means of bringing these "diverse elements together to provide a cohesive effort that links and integrates leading edge scientific development with dental care". The overall goal of the proposal is to provide trainees with a much broader scientific and clinical perspective than would be possible by participating in the isolated components of the program. This approach is thought to provide future leadership in the form of dental clinician-scientists in dental medicine.