PORT (Portland Oral health Research Training)

Project Summary/Abstract The Portland Oral Health Research Training (PORT) Program is a comprehensive research-training program built on our successful history of research training and mentoring at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Dentistry (OHSU SOD). This program is leveraged on our creative, collaborative and collegial basic and translational research scientists using innovative, integrated, and interdisciplinary approaches to address the critical issues in oral health research and research workforce needs facing our nation. This new application is bolstered by several important aspects, including our recent experience with a new DMD/PhD program, our strong NIDCR support in microbial sciences, biomaterials/tissue engineering/regenerative medicine, and clinical and translational research, which includes prestigious R35 awards to two outstanding mid-career investigators within the SOD, an active campus-wide research training environment supported by dozens of NIH funded training grants, and a large pool of research-experienced undergraduates from partner institutions, Portland State University and Oregon State University, housed in the same new research and education building as the OHSU SOD. The experience accumulated from these scholarly activities and partnerships across Oregon has led to this innovative program designed to enhance the interests and knowledge of dual degree students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows and visiting foreign-trained dentists, in basic, translational and clinical research. The PORT creates a structured path forward to productive, independent academic oral health research careers. Integrative school-based, university-wide core PORT scholarly activities, and across campus ongoing academic events, including the SOD’s Dean’s Seminar Series, OHSU Research Week, Pre-matriculation DMD Students’ Research Fellowship, Student Research Group seminars and events, fellowships for undergraduate and postdoctoral research, and courses in Mentorship, Scientific and Grant Writing, Public Speaking and Presentation Workshop, and Leadership Training Opportunities, are key to the PORT training experience The 5-year PORT Program offers four complementary training paths to maximize its effectiveness: Track I - DMD/PhD with one position requested in year 1 and another position required from year 2 on; Track II - Pre-doctoral Ph.D. with one position throughout the funding cycle; Track III - Post-doctoral training with two emphasis sub-tracks: A) a traditional post-doctoral experience, and B) a Master’s of Science degree in Clinical & Translational Research, three positions requested for year 1, and 4 positions for year 2 on; and Track IV - Pre-doctoral Ph.D. or Postdoctoral training for foreign-trained dentists with one position in Year 1, and an additional position added from Year 2 on. The PORT is intended to accelerate the transition of highly motivated qualified candidates into independent oral health researchers in a collegial, multi-faceted academic environment.