DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This competing renewal of the T32 training grant, "Comprehensive Oral Health Research Training" (COHORT) requests funding to support DDS/PhD, PhD and postdoctoral fellows in our Oral and Craniofacial Sciences (OCS) training programs. These OCS programs support and direct the education of highly qualified individuals to become independent scientists who will successfully address basic, translational and clinical research questions to improve dental, oral, and craniofacial health. Our restructured programs build on our history of success in training individuals for independently funded scientific careers and take full advantage of the rich scientific and clinical resources and expertise at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Drs. DenBesten, COHORT PI, and Ralph Marcucio, Chair of the OCS steering committee, co-direct this program. Our well-funded and experienced faculty, and internal advisory committee are drawn from all 4 schools at UCSF (Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy). We aim to provide training to exceptional and ethnically diverse individuals pursuing independent research careers in dental, oral and craniofacial sciences. We focus on cross-disciplinary collaborations for our trainees, and provide them with mentoring, career development, guidance and training to achieve independently funded scientific careers.

PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This application for a competing renewal of our T32 will provide predoctoral training for individuals seeking dual DDS and PhD degrees or PhD degrees alone, or postdoctoral fellowships in the UCSF program in Oral and Craniofacial Sciences. Our program has been designed to position trainees as investigators who can successfully compete for research funds in areas of oral and craniofacial health research, who can clearly and effectively communicate their thoughts both orally and on paper, who recognize the value of collaborative and multidisciplinary research interactions, who can lead and inspire others to accomplish mutual research objectives, who know how to translate their findings to practice, and who are ethical in their decision-making processes.