Opening Dental and Oral Research Summers (DORS) to Scientific Careers throughout Oregon

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SUMMARY: The goal of the Dental and Oral Research Summers (DORS) program is to create pathways to careers in dental, oral, and craniofacial research by opening doors to undergraduate scholars particularly from rural and under- represented communities within Oregon by providing summer research internships. Our dental school has recently received an NIH/NIDCR T90 training grant and has the infrastructure to build upon for this current R25 application. At the core of both training opportunities are the leading experts in oral microbiology, dental materials, and tissue regeneration. We have expanded the breadth of opportunities by creating a second research track to include community dentistry and nutrition. We have established an internship in Southwestern Oregon for learners who would not otherwise be available to spend a summer in Portland due to the distance. Summer interns will be welcomed into these rich laboratory and community environments. We have partnered with the state of Oregon's community leaders in rural health and in diversity to attract a robust cohort of applicants representing under-represented minorities and nontraditional learners. We have identified peer mentors from our current DMD Student Research Group to provide direction during the summer. And, we have a strong Leadership and Advisory Team who are themselves diverse and passionate about mentoring undergraduate research. While several excellent programs already exist for internships in biomedical research at OHSU to recruit undergraduates, OHSU currently lacks a mechanism to recruit learners specifically interested in dental, oral and craniofacial research. The DORS will establish partnerships with existing biomedical training programs at OHSU and Portland State University and build our cohort in dental, oral and craniofacial research. Success of this application will lead to increasing the number of dental scientists in the state of Oregon and the number of diverse dental scientists by providing them a strong summer research program early in their careers.