Alexandria, Va., USA — The American Association for Dental Research (AADR) is pleased to announce the program participants/mentees for the second class of the AADR Mentoring an Inclusive Network for a Diverse Workforce of the Future (AADR MIND the Future).
The selected mentees are:
- Hope Amm, University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Erin Bumann, University of Missouri at Kansas City
- Jacqueline Burgette, University of Pittsburgh, Pa.
- Leticia Chaves de Souza, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
- Bianca Dearing, Howard University, Washington, D.C.
- Rubelisa Candido Gomes de Oliveira, University of Kentucky, Lexington
- Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters, Duke University, Durham, N.C.
- Aline Petrin, University of Iowa, Iowa City
- Ana Paula Piovezan Fugolin, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland
- Guiqin Xie, Howard University, Washington, D.C.
- Camila Zamperini, University of Illinois at Chicago
AADR was awarded a five-year grant of more than $1.3 million by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) in response to FOA RFA-DE-19-007: NIDCR Mentoring Network to Support a Diverse Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research Workforce. The grant project dates are March 2020 through February 2025 (Grant No. 5UE5DE029439-02). Principal Investigators for the grant are David Drake, Professor of Microbiology, University of Iowa and the Iowa Institute for Oral Health Research; Christopher H. Fox, CEO, American Association for Dental Research, and Effie Ioannidou, Director, University of Connecticut Dental Clinical Research Center. The NIDCR program partner is Lynn King, Chief, Research Training and Career Development Branch.
The primary goal of this NIDCR-funded program is to establish a mentoring network that will support a diverse pool of early career investigators, including individuals from diverse backgrounds (e.g., see Notice of NIH’s Interest in Diversity), in developing independent research careers dedicated to improving dental, oral and craniofacial health. See the AADR Website for more details.
The program will offer one year of educational activities and interactive opportunities between mentors and mentees to support the development of a diverse oral and craniofacial biomedical research workforce. Once the mentees complete the program in September 2022, they will become alumni and will continue to be engaged in the program.
“The inaugural year of the AADR MIND the Future program was a success, offering numerous opportunities to both mentees and mentors,” said Christopher H. Fox, AADR Chief Executive Officer and Principal Investigator of the NIDCR grant. “AADR is pleased to continue partnering with the NIDCR on this mentoring network program along with co-Principal Investigators Effie Ioannidou, University of Connecticut, Farmington, and David Drake, University of Iowa, Iowa City, 11 institutions and a nationwide management and advisory committee to develop a diverse dental, oral and craniofacial research workforce for the future”
The AADR MIND the Future program is supported by NIDCR grant 5UE5DE029439-02 response to RFA-DE-19-007: NIDCR Mentoring Network to Support a Diverse Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research Workforce.
About the American Association for Dental Research
The American Association for Dental Research (AADR) is a nonprofit organization with over 3,100 individual members in the United States, with a mission to drive dental, oral and craniofacial research to advance health and well-being. The AADR is the largest Division of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR). The AADR also manages the activities of FNIDCR. The AADR also manages the activities of FNIDCR. To learn more, visit www.iadr.org/aadr.
