Legislative Update

FNIDCR Applauds Effort of Senator Casey to Request $35B in NIH Funding
On June 8, 2010, Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) led an effort to secure support from his colleagues in the U.S. Senate to request appropriators to fund the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at $35 billion for FY2011. Sen. Casey circulated a letter that garnered support from 20 additional senators for this request. The letter was sent to Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education Chairman Tom Harkin, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education Ranking Member Thad Cochran, who also serves as the ranking member for the Senate Committee on Appropriations; and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye.

“The Friends of NIDCR applauds Senator Casey’s initiative,” FNIDCR President Dr. Bruce Donoff said. “The letter presents excellent points that articulate the need for increased funding of NIH. As the appropriations process moves forward, we must do our part to educate Congress about the importance of properly funding medical research.”

FNIDCR worked to create awareness of the letter’s circulation in the U.S. Senate.

See your senator(s) listed below?
If so, please call or send an email to thank them for their support of NIH!

The 21 senators who signed the letter are:

• Robert Casey (D-PA)
• Charles Schumer (D-NY)
• Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
• Russ Feingold (D-WI)
• Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
• Tim Johnson (D-SD)
• Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY)
• Carl Levin (D-MI)
• Ted Kaufman (D-DE)
• Chris Dodd (D-CT)
• Al Franken (D-MN)
• Roland Burris (D-IL)
• John Kerry (D-MA)
• Kay Hagan (D-NC)
• Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
• Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
• Ron Wyden (D-OR)
• Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
• Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
• Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
• Mark Warner (D-VA)

President Donoff added, “We appreciate the support of all twenty-one senators who signed Senator Casey’s letter.”

Friends of NIDCR Advocacy Day 2010:
"Oral Health Research: A Healthier America Starts Here"
Save the Date! On Tuesday, September 21, 2010 FNIDCR will host a Capitol Hill briefing titled “Oral Health Research: A Healthier America Starts Here.” The briefing will feature researchers, dentists, and patient advocacy representatives, among many others. Please join us along with our friends in the oral health and dental community as we will bring the message of the benefits of medical research at and funded by NIDCR to Washington. More information coming soon!

NIDCR Research

Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Head and Neck Cancer
Two are better than one. So say generations of musicians, marriage counselors, and, more recently, medical oncologists. The latter claim builds on the fact that chemotherapy drugs collectively target multiple biological factors unique to tumor cells. By combining two drugs with different biological targets, it’s possible to produce a synergistic and thus more deadly one-two punch against tumor cells. In the July issue of the journal Molecular Cancer Therapy, NIDCR grantees and colleagues report early results of such a synergism in the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The work builds on the earlier discovery that a novel proteasome-inhibitor called PS-341 induces programmed cell death, or apoptosis, in laboratory studies with cultured tumor cells. But several research groups have shown that the drug’s potent effect seems to stall in clinical studies with certain tumor types, suggesting other cell signaling pathways kick into action, override the apoptotic signal, and allow tumor cells to survive. This unexpected outcome led to further brainstorming and ultimately reports that the simultaneous administration of PS-341 (also called bortezomib) and another type of chemotherapeutic agent called a histone deacetylase inhibitor might restore the apoptotic signal. In the current study, the researchers show this to be the case for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and pinpoint the biochemical action that allows the apoptosis to proceed. They conclude the synergistic combination of PS-341 and a histone deacetylase inhibitor, in this case trichostatin A, represents a potential novel therapeutic strategy for treating this common form of head and neck cancer.

Toward Better
Resolution of Pain
For the first time it has been demonstrated in mice that certain resolution-inducing molecules called resolvins are extremely potent in controlling various aspects of pain in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Read the interview with Dr. Charles Serhan, director of the Center for Experimental Therapeutics and Reperfusion Injury at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School.

Communications & Education

NIDCR Releases New Toolkit:
Oral Cancer: What African American Men Need to Know
NIDCR released a new video and three Public Service Announcements, brochure, fact sheets, poster and more. Click for more info.

Look for Special December Issue of Journal of Public Health Dentistry
NIDCR and the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research have approved the joint sponsorship of a special issue of the Journal of Public Health Dentistry to be distributed with the December issue of the journal. The special issue focuses on behavioral and social intervention research to improve oral health and will feature articles by leading experts on:

• How theory should guide intervention development
• How to ensure that interventions are delivered in research studies as they are intended (i.e., with “fidelity”)
• How to develop interventions that are acceptable and feasible to the target population and setting,
• How to test why interventions work in addition to whether they work (i.e., test their “mechanisms of action”)
• How to develop interventions that are sustainable in communities and settings after the research study is completed.

Two members of the National Advisory Dental and Craniofacial Research Council are leading this effort: Dr. Robert Weyant is editor of the Journal of Public Health Dentistry and Dr. Steve Martino is guest editor of the special issue. Drs. Dave Clark and Melissa Riddle of NIDCR’s Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Branch are serving as co-editors.

NIDCR 2010 Seminar Series:
From Basic Research to Therapy — The Latest Frontier
NIDCR's seminar series is designed to highlight advances in basic and applied research most likely to benefit medical practice in the future. Series talks focus on research topics of broad interest to the NIH community.

Recent Lectures:

“Biomaterials and Biotechnology: From the Discovery of Angiogenesis Inhibitors to the Development of Controlled Drug Delivery Systems and the Foundation of Tissue Engineering” Click for abstract.

Dr. Robert Langer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“Developmental Biology and Prevention and Treatment of Craniofacial Malformations” Click for abstract.

Dr. Yang Chai, University of Southern California

Upcoming Lectures:
All lectures are held in the Lipsett Amphitheater, Bldg. 10, on the NIH campus.

September 14, 2010 at 2 p.m.:
"Regenerative Medicine: A Craniofacial Surgeon's Perspective"
Dr. Michael Longaker, Stanford University

September 21, 2010 at 10 a.m.:
"Receptor Tyrosine Kinases in Embryonic Development - the Importance of Getting it Right"
Dr. Gail Martin, University of California, San Francisco

Mobile Versions of NIDCR Education Materials Available
The number of mobile-friendly NIDCR professional education publications has expanded to 11. Now accessible on hand-held devices are:

• Dental Provider’s Oncology Pocket Guide
• Oncology Pocket Guide to Oral Health (oncology team)
• Dental Management of the Organ Transplant Patient
• Practical Oral Care for People with Developmental Disabilities Series (dental team). The series includes fact sheets on dental management of patients with autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and intellectual disability; wheelchair transfer for the dental team, caregiver’s guide, and a free 2-credit hour CE activity based on the Practical Oral Care series.

Follow NIDCR on Twitter
NIDCR is now on Twitter at NIDCR@NIH. Sign up to follow news about NIDCR funding opportunities and science advances: http://twitter.com/