History
In 1931, the United States Public Health Service established a Dental Hygiene Unit at the National Institutes of Health. Designated as the first dental research worker, Dr. H. Trendley Dean studied the communities affected by the oral disease known as mottled enamel. Following the implementation of a water fluoridation trial in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR), was established by President Harry S. Truman on June 24, 1948. The first grants and fellowships that supported dental research were awarded the following year.
In an effort to expand the NIDR, plans to finance the construction of a building for the institute were approved by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958. The National Institute of Dental Research also established the Laboratory of Biochemistry to further the research regarding the structure and functions of various proteins. In continuing with this expansion, a grant to develop several dental research facilities at various universities was approved in 1967. This program hoped to establish research and training environments, as well as promote interdisciplinary approaches to combating oral diseases.
In addition to the Laboratory of Biochemistry, other laboratories were established in the years 1974 and 1975. These newly established laboratories focused on the field of oral medicine as well as the fields of microbiology and immunology. Another effort to expand research was implemented a decade later. The Dentist Scientist Award Program aimed to provide dentists with opportunities and incentive to pursue independent research regarding oral health.
In 1986, the most extensive survey on the dental health of American adults was completed by the NIDR. This study was the first to examine oral health diseases on a large and detailed scale. Following this survey, in 1993, the National Oral Health Information Clearinghouse was established. The purpose of this database is to provide resources for health professionals, patients, and the general public regarding oral health. In continuing with its mission to distribute important health information, the NIDR launched its official website in 1996.
Following its 50th anniversary, the NIDR changed its name to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR).
In 2001, the NIDCR released its revamped plan to eliminate oral health disparities across the United States. The institute followed up with this plan by establishing five new Centers for Research to Reduce Oral Health Disparities.
A decade later, Martha J. Somerman was appointed as the eighth director of the NIDCR. Through nurturing fundamental research and the development of researchers, the NIDCR aims to promote health, to prevent diseases and conditions, and to develop new diagnostics and therapeutics.
In 2020, Rena D'Souza was selected as the NIDCR's ninth director, replacing Martha Somerman, who had served from 2011 to 2020. D'Souza's tenure as Director began in October 2020 and Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque became the deputy director later that year. [2]
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) is one of the institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Special needs dentistry, also known as special care dentistry, is a dental specialty that deals with the oral health problems of geriatric patients, patients with intellectual disabilities, and patients with other medical, physical, or psychiatric issues.
The University of Washington School of Dentistry is the dental school of the University of Washington. It is located in Seattle, and is the only school of dentistry in the state of Washington. The school emphasizes research in anxiety, orofacial pain, tissue repair and regeneration, immune response to bacteria, and practice based research.
Tooth pathology is any condition of the teeth that can be congenital or acquired. Sometimes a congenital tooth diseases are called tooth abnormalities. These are among the most common diseases in humans The prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of these diseases are the base to the dentistry profession, in which are dentists and dental hygienists, and its sub-specialties, such as oral medicine, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and endodontics. Tooth pathology is usually separated from other types of dental issues, including enamel hypoplasia and tooth wear.
Martha J. Somerman is an internationally known researcher and educator in Medicine, focusing on defining the key regulators controlling development, maintenance, and regeneration of dental, oral, and craniofacial tissues. She is currently Chief Lab of Laboratory of Oral Connective Tissue Biology (LOCTB) at NIH's National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) located in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Dennis Torchia is an American biophysicist who specialized in NMR spectroscopy. He spent most of his career at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the United States National Institutes of Health, where he served as Chief of the Structural Biology Unit before his retirement in 2006.
Ann Linnea Sandberg was an American immunologist and the acting director of the Center for Integrative Craniofacial Research at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). Previously, Sandberg was a lab chief and researcher for 23 years in the NIH Intramural Research Program at NIDCR.
Pamela Gehron Robey is an American cell biologist. She is a senior investigator in the skeletal biology section at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
John S. Greenspan, is an academic dentist/scientist and university administrator. His degrees and diplomas include BSc, BDS, PhD, FRCPath, FDSRCS (Eng). He is the Director-Emeritus of the AIDS Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He was also the founding Director of the UCSF AIDS Specimen Bank (1982-2017) and of the UCSF Oral AIDS Center (1986–2005).
Niki M. Moutsopoulos is a Greek periodontist and immunologist. She is a senior investigator in the oral immunity and infection section at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Moutsopoulos specializes in oral immunology and periodontitis. Her research program focuses on host-microbial interactions that can drive chronic inflammatory responses and tissue destruction in the oral cavity.
Eastman Institute for Oral Health of University of Rochester is a school of dentistry located at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York, United States. Unlike other dental schools in the United States, it does not have an undergraduate dental program. It is affiliated with Strong Memorial Hospital.
Marie Ussing Nylen is a Danish-American biologist, dentist, microscopist, and badminton player known for her research on the morphology of tooth enamel and her contributions to refining the electron microscope as an aide in dental research at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDR). She was the first woman director of the NIDR's Intramural Research Program. Nylen became director of the NIDR extramural research program in 1984. In 1947 and 1953, she won the women's world singles event at the All England Open Badminton Championship.
Rachel Harris Larson was an American chemist and dental researcher who studied the interrelationships of genetics, nutrition, and bacteriology in dental caries. She was the first female scientist at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research where she worked from 1942 until her retirement in 1977.
Rena D'Souza is a clinician-scientist and the Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. She was formerly the assistant vice president for academic affairs and education for health sciences at the University of Utah where she was also a Professor of Dentistry in the School of Dentistry and a Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy in the School of Medicine.
Marian Frances Young is an American developmental biologist researching the function of extracellular matrix proteins in skeletal tissues. She is the deputy scientific director of the division of intramural research at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
Ophir David Klein is an American developmental biologist who specializes in pediatric medical genetics. Klein is Executive Director of Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s, Vice Dean for Children’s Services, Professor of Pediatrics, and the David and Meredith Kaplan Distinguished Chair in Children’s Health. He is also a professor of Orofacial Sciences and Pediatrics at UCSF.
Lawrence A. Tabak is an American dentist and biomedical scientist serving as the acting director of the National Institutes of Health. He is the principal deputy director of the National Institutes of Health. Tabak was director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research from 2000 to 2010.
Jennifer Y. Webster-Cyriaque is an American dentist and immunologist specializing in the oral microbiome, salivary gland disease in patients with HIV, and cancer-causing viruses. She became the deputy director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research in November 2020. Webster-Cyriaque was a faculty member at UNC Adams School of Dentistry and the UNC School of Medicine for 21 years.
Kelly Greig Ten Hagen is an American glycobiologist and head of the developmental glycobiology section at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. She studies O-glycosylation regulation and its relationship to human disease.
A. Isabel Garcia is an American dentist and academic administrator serving as dean of the University of Florida College of Dentistry since 2015. She was deputy director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) from 2007 to 2014. Garcia was the acting NIDCR director from 2010 to 2011. She was a Rear Admiral Lower Half in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
