PROJECT SUMMARY The Dental Research Experience (D-REX) of the University of Maryland School of Dentistry (UMSOD) is a full- time, intensive, hands-on summer research program addressing the unmet need of building a strong and diverse workforce in dental health care, dental and craniofacial health research and education. This workforce is critical for improving oral health and reducing oral health disparity. Collaborating with Baltimore area high schools, historically black colleges and universities in Maryland, University of Maryland Institutions, campus-wide URM scholastic programs and student organization, including Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences (CURE) scholars program and Summer BioScience Internship Program (SHIP), and the Student National Dental Association, D-REX will recruit high school and undergraduate students and science teachers strongly interested in biomedical science to experience the 9-week one-on-one mentored research in the laboratories of UMSOD. Twenty-six faculty members in UMSOD will serve as mentors to lead the participants through hypothesis-driven research project intimately related to various areas of oral, dental, and craniofacial health, such as biomaterial and tissue engineering, pain, microbial pathogenesis, cancer, and epidemiology. Additional group activities will deliver enrichment contents, such as science lectures, career seminars, survival skills workshops, to empower the participants to succeed in dental and medical health care and research career. The goals of D-REX are to foster career interest in the field of unmet need and to promote awareness of dental, oral, and craniofacial research among high school science teachers to impact high school science education broadly. D-REX program will be integrated with the ongoing UMSOD Summer Research Training Program for dental students so that D- REX trainees can experience research along with dental students to further motivate them in pursuing oral health-related careers. D-REX program will be led by two program directors. One of them is currently operating the training program at UMSOD (Dr. Ren). The other created and directed a summer high school research science program lasting 20 years, and two international biomedical science programs for teenagers that now have more than 100 countries as members (Dr. Myslinski). As one of the top 10 dental schools in NIH funding for the past 12 consecutive years (most recently, $15.2M total funding, including $4.8M from NIDCR) and a #4 ranking by Blue Ridge research in 2020, the UMSOD is a diverse, inclusive and intellectually stimulating place to nurture and motivate students in pursuing career in oral health care and dental, oral, and craniofacial research, and to disseminate oral health science through the participation of high school teachers. The goals of D-REX are consistent with the mission of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

PROJECT NARRATIVE Nurturing and cultivating a diverse workforce dedicated in the research and education of dental, oral, and craniofacial medicine is essential for building a diverse and capable oral health profession, and elimination of disparity in oral health. The proposed Maryland Program in Dental Research Experience (D-REX) is aimed at cultivating the interest in oral health research in a diverse group of highly motivated high school and undergraduate students, and inspiring them to pursue a career in academic dentistry.