ORAL CONDITIONS AND HEALTH OUTCOMES IN FRAIL ELDERS

指导性患者导向研究职业发展奖 (K23) 将为 PI 提供受保护的时间，让其付出 80% 的努力来发展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科学博士学位。职业发展计划提出了在她的项目的前两年进行初期的教学工作，以及涉及对 VA 规范老龄化研究数据进行二次数据分析的监督研究经验。 这将为候选人提供开展她提出的论文研究项目所需的准备，该项目涉及对波士顿大学和波士顿医学中心跟踪的一群社区居住的体弱老年人进行口腔健康干预研究。候选人将得到经验丰富的研究人员的指导，这些研究人员在指导研究实习生的工作方面拥有成功的记录。 该 K23 项目将充分利用与波士顿大学医学中心及其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、退伍军人事务部以及企业和基金会赞助商资助的现有的以患者为导向的研究项目，也将受益于让候选人参与这些项目的能力。 首席研究员将有机会以系统性疾病和生活质量的口腔健康决定因素领域的现有研究项目为基础，特别关注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.