Board of Directors
President
Christian S. Stohler, DDS, DrMedDent
Dean, University of Maryland Dental School
Vice President
Katherine Hammitt, MA
Vice President of Research
Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation
Treasurer
J. Leslie Winston, DDS, PhD
Director, Global Oral Care Professional
& Scientific Relations
The Procter & Gamble Company
Secretary
Sarah Tevis Poteet, DDS
Aesthetic and Restorative Dentistry
Directors
Charles Bertolami, DDS, DMedSc
Dean, NYU College of Dentistry
C. Yolanda Bonta, DMD, MS
Executive Director. Hispanic Dental Assoc.
Rena N. D'Souza, DDS, MS, PhD
Professor and Chair
Department of Biomedical Sciences,
Baylor College of Dentistry
Mary Fete, RN, MSN
Director of Research, National
Foundation for Ectodermal Dysplasias
Debbie Oliver
Executive Director, AmeriFace
Fotinos Panagakos, DMD, PhD
Director, Clinical Research Relations &
Strategy, Colgate-Palmolive Company
No-Hee Park, DMD, PhD
Dean, UCLA School of Dentistry
Daniel Perkins
President, AEGIS Communications
Peter Polverini, DDS, DMSc
Dean, University of Michigan
School of Dentistry
Gary W. Price
CEO, Dental Trade Alliance
Philip Stashenko, DMD, PhD
President & CEO
The Forsyth Institute
Past President
R. Bruce Donoff, DMD, MD
Dean and Professor of Oral &
Maxillofacial Surgery,
Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Board Member Emeritus
Mary Kaye Richter
Past Executive Director, National
Foundation for Ectodermal Dysplasias
President Emeritus
D. Walter Cohen, DDS
Executive Director
Peter Anas
Contact Us Friends of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research Executive Director Legislative Director Membership Director |
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NEWS | |
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| • | Annual Conference Highlights | ||
| • | Remember to Become a Friend | ||
| LEGISLATIVE UPDATE | |||
| • | Appropriations Process Update | ||
| • | Has Your US Representative Joined the Oral Health Caucus? | ||
| MEMBERSHIP | |||
| • | Welcome New Member | ||
| NIDCR RESEARCH FOCUS | |||
| • | HNSCC & Oral Cancer Genome Project in Science Magazine | ||
| • | Patient Advocacy Spotlight | ||
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News Annual Conference Highlights Dinner Keynote  Ken Salyer, MD"A Life That Matters" In a compelling presentation, "A Life That Matters," world-renowned craniofacial surgeon Dr. Kenneth E. Salyer, will share for our conference dinner audience his lifelong commitment to helping the globe's most disfigured children who grow up with faces that allow them to know they are part of the human community. He encourages each of us to be inspired by the lives of these children and to transform our own challenges into triumphs. You will come away from his presentation with new sensitivities that each of us must try to create a life that matters, and that one very navigable route toward that end is to find ways to help others achieve the best in their own lives as well. A life that matters, Dr. Salyer believes, is a life shaped by service and self-fulfillment.  Panel Discussion
"Barriers to Care" - Lessons from the Field
 Dr. SomermanLuncheon Guest Speaker Hear what's happening at NIDCR and its funded projects from new Director Martha Somerman DDS, PhD. Conference Theme How Science Translates Into Practice A broad range of expert presentations will be given:
Click here for More Info On:
Thank You to our Sponsors
Remember to Become a Friend - On Our Facebook Page 
As a reminder, to further reach out to its members and spread the word of our activities among the oral health and research community, the Friends of NIDCR has developed a Facebook page. You'll see pictures of past events and information on upcoming events.If you have a Facebook page (as an individual or school or company), please:
 Legislative News Appropriations Process Update Where Are We? The federal government continues to operate at FY2011 funding levels under a continuing resolution, or "CR," until November 18, 2011. When the Senate returns to Washington the week of October 31 it will have to, along with the House of Representatives, work to pass the annual appropriations bills for FY2012 in order to avoid another possible government shutdown by November 18. Chances are Congress will have to pass another short-term, temporary CR to provide it more time to take action on all 12 spending bills. More than likely, these spending bills will be bundled together in smaller quantities (say three to four at a time) as opposed to one large "omnibus" spending bill in the effort to approve them. For example, it is anticipated Congress will take up appropriations bills for Agriculture; Commerce, Justice, and Science; and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development in one bundle upon the Senate's return next week. What Has Been Accomplished? On Thursday, September 29, 2011, the House Appropriations Committee released a draft of the FY2012 Labor-HHS spending bill, which including funding for NIH and NIDCR. The bill includes:
Will "Super Committee" find $1.2 Trillion in Cuts? The Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction ("Super Committee") is tasked with finding at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions, to be spread out over the next several years. The deadline to submit these recommended cuts to Congress is November 23. Congress is then required to vote on the Committee's recommendations by December 23. If the Committee fails to recommend $1.2 trillion in spending cuts to Congress by the November deadline, or if Congress fails to enact those cuts by the December deadline, automatic across-the-board cuts will be triggered ($1.5 trillion), impacting nearly every aspect of the federal budget. The work of the "Super Committee" is ongoing. Thus far, the joint committee has been mostly mum on any progress and any of the committee member's comments to the media have been nebulous at best. However, perhaps in an indication of a change, the committee held only its third public hearing on October 26, 2011 titled, "Discretionary Outlays, Security and Non-Security," looking at non-mandatory government spending; and announced plans for another hearing on November 1, 2011. How You Can Help: Contact Congress Today! We have distributed the "Fact Sheet from FNIDCR!" to Capitol Hill, and will continue to do so to reinforce our message. But we need your help! As stakeholders of dental and oral health research, you can help make a difference by protecting research investment. A listing of the members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction can be found here or below. If you see your U.S. representative or U.S. senator is a member of the Joint Committee, please contact his or her office to raise awareness about the importance of dental and oral health research. In addition, it is important to contact your U.S. representative and U.S. senators even if they are not on the Joint Committee because 1) of the appropriations decisions that need to made for FY2012 and 2) it is possible for the Joint Committee to present legislation to the entire Congress for a vote by December 23, 2011.
Has Your US Representative Joined the Oral Health Caucus? Although the Congressional Oral Health Caucus is at its highest number of members, 24, the oral health community must continue to work to help it grow. It is never too late to ask your U.S. representative to join the Caucus — a bipartisan body aimed to make oral health research a priority in Washington. It is co-chaired by one of its founders, U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID), and U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD). Both representatives are ardent champions of oral health on Capitol Hill. For a caucus member listing, click here. If you do not see your U.S. representative on this list, please ask him or her to join. For a sample letter: Contact our Legislative Director Andrew Kaffes, legislative@fnidcr.org. Help us augment our voice in Washington! Membership  Welcome New MemberInstitutional Member Marquette University School of Dentistry William K. Lobb, DDS, MS Dean NIDCR Research Grant Focus HNSCC & Oral Cancer Genome Project in Science Magazine  DNA molecules being scanned, showing massively parallel/ next-generation sequencingIn the August 26 issue of the journal Science, a team of NIDCR-supported scientists provides one of the most comprehensive analyses yet of the genetic landscape that underlies head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, or HNSCC, the most common form of head and neck cancer. The data help to pin down that HNSCC, although spoken in the singular, is actually plural. The condition represents dozens of molecular conditions, each driven by a unique acquired pattern of cancer-causing gene alterations. These gene alterations, like blinking red lights on a control panel, shut down or amplify regulatory signals within the cell, accelerating its growth cycle, and giving rise to a tumor. The results suggest that the reclassification of these tumors based on their molecular characteristics is starting to come into technological reach as a key first step in establishing personalized medicine.  Dr. Jeffrey MyersThe paper also offers another important storyline involving the Oral Cancer Genome Project, a collaborative research effort to define the genetic changes that underlie these cancers. This project supports this important undertaking and is one of NIDCR's signature initiatives funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). These data are a direct result of this investment. NIDCR Science Spotlight recently caught up with Dr. Jeffrey Myers, a surgical oncologist and researcher at M. D. Anderson in Houston, who is one of the senior authors on the paper, with colleagues from The Johns Hopkins University, Baylor College of Medicine, and M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Read the full interview. Patient Advocacy Spotlight   The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2010 that cleft lip and/or palate is the most commonly occurring birth defect in the United States, affecting approximately one in every 600 infants. Celebrating 20 years of service in 2011, AmeriFace (www.ameriface.org) provides support to individuals with congenital and acquired conditions affecting the face, head and neck. Services include referral to:
 Debbie Oliver Executive DirectorThe largest, most active support organization for the cleft/craniofacial community, AmeriFace works to eliminate healthcare disparities in this population by supporting ongoing research, and legislation mandating treatment and surgery for cleft/craniofacial patients of all ages. By far the most popular of the AmeriFace programs, cleftAdvocate (www.cleftadvocate.org) has been featured nationally on television and in print, and local/regional media frequently highlight the journeys of network families. Coordinating efforts with its Pathfinder Partner Organizations, AmeriFace works to increase public understanding of facial differences through awareness programs and education. National Cleft & Craniofacial Awareness & Prevention Month is observed in July (www.nccapm.org), coinciding with AmeriFace's hosting of the North American Craniofacial Family Conference (NACFC). Patients and families, as well as medical and education professionals, are encouraged to call the organization's toll-free hotline at (888) 486-1209 for assistance, or visit the website at http://www.ameriface.org for additional information. |
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