Project Summary /Abstract The proposed Biomedical Informatics and Behavioral Sciences (BIBS) Summer Research Program seeks to encourage underrepresented students to pursue oral health research careers. In 2000, Oral Health in America: A report of the Surgeon General reframed oral diseases as a bona fide public health issue. Subsequent events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, have exposed inequities in the United States (U.S.) public health infrastructure whose causes and persistence are often poorly understood. The U.S. dental public health system is no different. Our central hypothesis is twofold: too few health professionals are engaged in oral health and dental services research; and insufficient diversity in their ranks hampers the study of oral health disparities. To address this supposition, the Texas A&M University (TAMU) College of Dentistry (COD) will develop a new summer program for undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students interested in dentistry, dental students with a master’s degree, or dental residents with a master’s degree, particularly the Master of Public Health degree. This innovative program will leverage the COD’s existing pipeline programming for underrepresented students. BIBS will be a first-time collaboration among the TAMU Center for Statistical Bioinformatics, the TAMU Department of Public Health Sciences, and the Texas Oral Health Coalition. Having faculty from three complementary health research specialties will add perspective for students. In this proposal, six talented trainees per summer will participate in a comprehensive 9-week program. The first six weeks will consist of coursework in biomedical informatics and behavioral sciences, in which trainees will learn programming, statistics, tools for analyzing large data sets, and codes specific to dental procedures and dental public health. At the start of the program, each trainee will be paired with a mentor. Working together, they will develop a tailored mentorship plan and conduct a research project. At the end of the program, trainees will present their projects and results in a newly established “BIBS Summer Research Conference.”

Project Narrative/Relevance This proposed program, Biomedical Informatics Behavioral Sciences (BIBS) Summer Research Program, targets undergraduate- and graduate-level students from underrepresented minority groups and provides stipends for those interested in oral and public health to complete 9 weeks of coursework and applied research experiences. Minority populations suffer disproportionately with dental diseases, for reasons that are not always well understood, and it is our premise that a dearth of diversity among oral health researchers contributes to this knowledge gap. The BIBS program will offer short-term training in bioinformatics and data science, mentoring, and research experiences to a new cadre of students interested in advanced degrees in oral health research as well as careers in the field.