The Friends of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (FNIDCR) online newsletter is a membership benefit. Permission is granted to repost this publication only with inclusion of the header. Past issues are posted at http://www.fnidcr.org/newsletters/index.html.

LEGISLATIVE

Monitoring Update

FY09 Federal Budget: Senate Passes $32 Billion for NIH
In March, the House of Representatives and Senate each passed its respective versions of the FY09 Federal Budget. In the Senate, when the Budget Resolution came to the Floor, an amendment offered by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) to increase funding of NIH by $2.1 billion passed by an overwhelming vote of 95 to 4. This brings the funding level for NIH to $32 billion. The amendment had the support of 31 co-sponsors. The $32 billion for NIH is $2.95 billion more than the funding level presented in the President’s budget. 

Also, the president has budgeted $390,535,000 for NIDCR which is six million below the funding level appropriated and passed by Congress for FY08 and well short of the $438 million FNIDCR recommends for the Institute. The FY09 NIDCR budget justification can be found here.

Appropriations Process Begins
In March, the House Appropriations Subcommittee with jurisdiction over NIH and NIDCR received public and written testimonies from organizations and individuals. FNIDCR President Dr. Bruce Donoff submitted written testimony on behalf of FNIDCR. “It is important for appropriators to hear from as many voices as possible in support of NIDCR and the tremendous work that is being accomplished there,” said Dr. Donoff. “We must create awareness of the broad scope of the constituency which benefits from NIDCR research and that all Americans win when we make oral health research a priority.”

Preparations for FNIDCR’s
Capitol Hill Day “Kick-Off”
We continue to prepare for our Capitol Hill Day “Kick-Off” on Wednesday morning, April 23.  It will be held for our Patient Advocacy organization members, who will hear from Oral Health Caucus Co-Chair, and appropriations committee member, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID).  We also expect a visit from Co-Chair Rep. John Linder. Following our Kick-off, participants will have meetings with their congressional offices to educate and create awareness about the benefits of properly funded medical research. Capitol Hill Day is the third of a three-day series of events for oral health patient advocacy groups to meet in Washington, April 21 - 23.  For more information about these events, please visit our web site (click here).

Congresswoman Dr. Donna Christensen
Joins Oral Health Caucus!
We are pleased to announce that Congresswoman Donna Christensen, M.D., (D-Virgin Islands) has joined the Congressional Oral Health Caucus thanks to the outreach efforts of the FNIDCR office. “We’re excited and honored to have Congresswoman Christensen join the Caucus,” said Dr. Bruce Donoff, FNIDCR President. “I encourage our members to outreach to their legislators and ask that they join the Caucus.  Growth of the Caucus is important to projecting the importance of oral health issues on Capitol Hill.” For more information about how you can help grow the Caucus, please contact Legislative Director, Andrew Kaffes at legislative@fnidcr.org. 

Oral Health Caucus Chair Visits NIH with Appropriations Chairman
Congressman Mike Simpson (R-ID), Oral Health Caucus Chairman, joined U.S. Rep. David Obey (D-WI), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee on a tour of NIH to learn more about the exciting and groundbreaking research NIH is doing to improve the health and quality of life for all Americans. “The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is our country’s primary agency for conducting and supporting medical research. NIH scientists investigate ways to prevent disease, research the causes of disease and look for better and more effective treatments and cures for everything from heart disease and stroke to cancer, AIDS, and sudden infant death syndrome,” said Simpson. See the full article.

(Photo L to R: Francis Collins, Director, National Human Genome Research Institute; Pat Grady, Director, National Institute of Nursing Research; Roger Glass, Director, Fogarty International Center; Congressman Mike Simpson, Chairman, Oral Health Caucus; Dr.Ting-Kai Li, Director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and Congressman David Obey, Chairman, House Appropriations Committee).

If you have additional questions, please contact our legislative director, Andrew Kaffes at legislative@fnidcr.org.

News

Come Celebrate the Historic Contributions of NIDCR Research to Improve Health in America
The date is fast approaching for the big birthday party celebrating “60 Years of NIDCR” - June 23, 2008, 6pm-8pm, at the Bethesda Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, a few miles from the NIH campus.  
Order Your Tickets Now.

Thank you to our major sponsors:

Additional 60th Anniversary Events - Sponsored by NIDCR
Monday, June 23, 2008
1pm – 4pm: NIDCR National Advisory Dental and Craniofacial Research Council Meeting

Tuesday, June 24, 2008:
8am – 4pm: 60th Anniversary Scientific Symposium sponsored by NIDCR (NIDCR will send info separately)

NIH Appoints FNIDCR Board Member Feldman to Council of Councils
Among the appointments made by The National Institutes of Health (NIH) to the NIH Council of Councils is Liaison to the NIH Clinical Center. Cecile A. Feldman, D.M.D., M.B.A., is the Dean of University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, N.J. and also a FNIDCR Board Member. The Council is made up of 27 members selected from the NIH Institute and Center advisory councils and committees to the NIH Office of the Director.

The Council will advise the NIH Director on cutting-edge trans-NIH priorities and matters related to the policies and activities of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives, established by the NIH Reform Act 2006, and the Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives (OPASI). The Council also will act as an external advisory panel to the IC Directors during the concept approval stage of the review process for trans-NIH initiatives.

"My charge to the Council is to be bold and define experiments that engage the community that NIH can do and fund reasonably," said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. "The Council should foster incubation of new ideas and build resources as needed, all driven by analysis of the science." Click for more information on the Council of Council's role and the NIH Reform Act of 2006.

NIDCR Grantees Featured in "Women in Dental Research" Video
A video is now available featuring NIDCR grantees Drs. Deborah Greenspan, Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque and Marjorie Jeffcoat (also an FNIDCR Board Member). A joint effort of NIH’s Office of Science Education and Office of Research on Women's Health, the video is part of a series meant to inspire young women ages 11 to 18 to pursue careers in biomedical research. This DVD illustrates exciting career possibilities in dental research by following three amazing women at work in their laboratories. Travel to three different cities to meet scientists who banded together to fight the AIDS epidemic, to see how molecular researchers study oral disease and cancer, and to watch dental researchers provide free dental care to children
in their local community. All of these special
women are making a difference in the field of
dental research. Click here to order the video.

New FNIDCR Membership Brochure & Application
To further subsidize the programs of FNIDCR, the Board has approved the newly-designed membership brochure developed by the national office. To have one mailed to you, click here. The new one-page membeship application can be found here.

Patient Advocacy Organizations

Conditions with Temporomandibular Joint & Muscle Disorders
The Fifth Scientific Meeting of The TMJ Association (FNIDCR member)  “Can Studies of Comorbidities with TMJDs Reveal Common mechanisms of Disease?” will be held June 1-3, 2008 at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) in Bethesda, Maryland.

The meeting focuses on conditions which often occur in concert with temporomandibular joint and muscle disorders.  These include chronic headache, generalized pain conditions, irritable bowel syndrome, endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis. Click for more information.

Research Awards

NIH Director's Bridge Awards
NIH is taking specific steps to continue the support available to investigators whose R01 applications receive review scores near the Institute or Center nominal payline and who have limited additional support. The NIH Director’s Bridge Award (NDBA) provides continued but limited bridge funding for meritorious investigators who just miss the funding cutoff to permit the principal investigator additional time to strengthen a resubmission application. Click for further details.

Economic Impact of Medical and Health
Research Award
FNIDCR member, Research!America, recently announced the 7th Annual Eugene Garfield Economic Impact of Medical and Health Research Award. Established in 2002, the award annually recognizes outstanding research demonstrating how medical and health research impacts the economy. Generously supported by the Eugene Garfield Foundation, the award carries an honorarium of $5,000 and will be presented on October 14, 2008 in Washington, DC. Nominations accepted until May 30, 2008. Click for more information about Eugene Garfield, the award and making nominations.

NIDCR Supported Research

Localized Aggressive Periodontitis:
Pinning Down the Long Suspected Role of Aa
For dentists who treat an occasional child with localized aggressive periodontitis, or LAP, the research points to the likely culprit as a bacterium with a long name, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa). But the case remains far from air tight. Absent from the scientific literature are clinical studies that track the natural history of the disease in children and whether Aa indeed plays a role in its onset and progression. In the December 2007 issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, a team of NIDCR supported scientists offer the first results from a natural history study. While a final verdict remains to be rendered, this study and a similar one in Morocco offer stronger evidence that Aa might just be a cause. To learn more about this study, click to read the interview with Dr. Daniel Fine, a scientist at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark and the lead author on the JCM paper.