ORAL CONDITIONS AND HEALTH OUTCOMES IN FRAIL ELDERS

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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.