Q/A Session on the NIH NIDCR Dental Clinical Research Fellowship Program

Description

Presenters
Jaqueline Mays
Blake Warner
Joe Nguyen

Moderators
Yejin Cho
Drashty Mody
James Seung Jin Jang

Sponsor Groups
AADOCR National Student Research Group (NSRG)

CE Credits
N/A

Conflict of Interest Disclosure
N/A

Course Description:
Q/A Session on the NIH NIDCR Dental Clinical Research Fellowship Program

Here is more information about the NIH NIDCR Dental Clinical Research Fellowship Program:

Contributors

Blake Warner

NIH/NIDCR
Bethesda Maryland United States

Dr. Blake M. Warner received his B.S. in Biochemistry at the Miami University in Oxford, OH, his M.P.H., Ph.D., and D.D.S. at The Ohio State University. During the dental school, Dr. Warner served as the NSRG President from 2010-11 and was the first full voting student representative to the AADOCR Board of Directors. After dental school, Dr. Warner subsequently completed a three-year hospital-based clinical residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and earned his Fellowship in the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology and his Board Certification by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology in 2017. Dr. Warner then completed a post-doctoral Clinical Research Fellowship at NIDCR focused on basic and clinical investigations in Sjögren’s disease and radiation-induced xerostomia with Dr. John “Jay” Chiorini in the AAV Biology Section. In May of 2018, Dr. Warner was appointed acting chief of the Sjögren’s Disease Clinic, and in August of 2019 was appointed Chief of the Salivary Disorders Unit and the Sjögren’s Disease Clinic. He leads an integrated multi-specialty clinic and aligned research laboratory focused on deep characterization of disorders affecting the salivary glands including autoimmune diseases and iatrogenic salivary damage by oncologic therapies. Specifically, he interrogates the clinical phenotype, genetics, and immunopathology of salivary dysfunction states including Sjögren’s Disease and immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced (ICI) sicca to inform the clinical testing of novel therapeutics to improve health outcomes. Dr. Warner also received another of the NIH’s very prestigious grants called the Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigators. Dr. Warner is the only dentist-scientist to receive this prestigious grant providing dedicated funding for up to 7 years in the Intramural Research Program (IRP). For more information about the Stadtman grant, please visit this page: https://irp.nih.gov/careers/trans-nih-scientific-recruitments/stadtman-tenure-track-investigators
Jacqueline Mays

NIH/NIDCR
Bethesda Maryland United States

Dr. Jacqueline W. Mays received a B.S. in biology and chemistry from Valparaiso University, Ind., and a Ph.D. in oral biology and a D.D.S. from the College of Dentistry, The Ohio State University. Dr. Mays was awarded a Master of Health Sciences in Clinical Research from the College of Medicine at Duke University. Dr. Mays performed post-doctoral work at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) on influenza viral protein expression and the anti-viral mucosal immune response, and subsequently completed a Clinical Research Fellowship at NIDCR focused on chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease (cGVHD) in the oral cavity. Dr. Mays was appointed chief of the Oral Immunobiology Unit at NIDCR in 2015. Dr. Mays’ laboratory is focused on translational investigation of cGVHD pathobiology and the development of new therapies for the oral cavity. Dr. Mays also received the NIH’s very prestigious grant called the Lasker Clinical Research Scholarship, which is nicknamed the Super R01, providing NIH funding for up to 10 years to some of the most talented clinical investigators. She is one of the only dentist-scientist to receive this prestigious grant. Here is more information about the Lasker Clinical Research Scholarship: https://www.nih.gov/research-training/lasker-clinical-research-scholars/current-lasker-clinical-research-scholars
Joe Nguyen

NCI
Bethesda Maryland United States

Dr. Joe T. Nguyen is a highly accomplished researcher and dentist with a passion for advancing the field of head and neck cancer research. He began his academic journey at the University of California, Davis, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 2011. Driven by his passion for scientific research, Dr. Nguyen then pursued his DDS/PhD training at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, the number one ranked dental school in the country. During this time, he received the prestigious NIH F30 award and the University of Michigan Cancer Center Grant. He successfully completed his training in 2019, focusing his research on the intersection between metabolism and head and neck cancer biology. Following his graduate studies, Dr. Nguyen joined the National Cancer Institute as a Cancer Research Training Award Post-doctoral Fellow, where he worked in Dr. Beverly Mock's Lab at the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics. There, he gained valuable experience in cutting-edge cancer research, contributing to important projects and collaborating with renowned researchers in the field. In 2020, Dr. Nguyen joined the National Institutes of Dental and Craniofacial Research as a Dental Clinical Research Fellow in Dr. Jacqueline Mays' Lab. He was also awarded the Loan Repayment Program award to cover the cost of his education. There, he continued to build on his expertise in oral malignancies, focusing on the development of novel therapies for immunologically driven diseases such as oral graft-versus-host-disease. Thanks to his impressive track record, in 2022, Dr. Nguyen was appointed Chief Clinical Research Fellow and was awarded the prestigious K22 grant to support his research on immunologically driven diseases. While accomplishing these many achievements in research, he also started his private practice in Frederick, Maryland. His mentor, Dr. Mays, praised him for his ability to manage three postdoctoral fellowships and his own dental practice simultaneously. Here is Dr. Joe Nguyen’s research and biography: https://irp.nih.gov/pi/joe-nguyen
Yejin Cho

Yejin Cho is a DMD/PhD candidate at Pitt Dental Medicine. Yejin served as the Ohio Valley Region Regional Representative for the 2023-2024 year and will serve as a Member-at-Large on the NSRG board for the 2024-2025 year.
James Jang

James Jang (he/him) is the 7th year DMD/PhD candidate at the University of Florida College of Dentistry. James has been involved with the AADOCR for 6 years and is currently serving as the AADOCR National Student Research Group Immediate Past President. He is focused on encouraging pre-dental students to get involved with research and take advantage of opportunities provided by AADOCR/IADR organization. He would like to help prospective pre-dental student members to gain most out of their research experiences and enhance their chances for dental school admissions. He would also like to encourage pre-dental members to apply for dentistry DDS/DMD and PhD combined programs.
Drashty Mody

Drashty Mody (she/her) is a 4th year DDS/PhD student at Indiana University School of Dentistry. With a background in microbial ecology, she is interested in pursuing a research-centered career that studies host and microbiome adaptation within auto-immune-like conditions such as oral chronic graft vs. host disease. As the Graduate Student Representative this year in NSRG, she hopes to expand the network of oral care researchers to include various perspectives and possibilities.

Description

Contributors

Blake Warner

Jacqueline Mays

Joe Nguyen

Yejin Cho

James Jang

Drashty Mody