Dental Research Intensive Program for Undergradate Students

Modified Project Summary/Abstract Section This application will establish an undergraduate summer research program that focuses on dental research. The goal of this program is to provide courses for research skill development, gain exposure to research on dental/oral related research that will enhance the ability and confidence to investigate oral/dental related research projects, and build a pipeline for dedicated dental school students. Building on our longstanding institutional research training experience and based on our excellent outcome measures, we are confident that our trainees will be highly successful in getting a meaningful research experience that will keep them interested in dental profession including dental research and/or DDS programs. The focus of this summer research program will be to develop and sustain this training program that will provide summer research that involves a didactic and hands-on 10-week research program for undergraduate students. We remain devoted to training a cadre of highly skilled, interactive undergraduate students who can successfully address the new opportunities in dentistry and become a part of the future academic faculty in US dental schools. There is currently an estimated need for more than 400 dental faculty and clinician-scientists to maintain the high quality of dental education and research at US Dental Schools. A pivotal point in the development of dental scientists is the decision to pursue research training early on and keep building on this experience. This is a compelling predictor of whether an individual will stay in academics or move into private practice after graduating from the dental school. Through this training program, we hope to address the critical need for an established and structured pathway at UT dental school that develops research competencies of these early-career students (future dentists), especially those who aspire to lead academic research careers. We are confident that this exceptional multi-interdisciplinary program and training environment will improve the next generation of dentists. Highly motivated and dedicated students will be selected for research training and will participate in a series of core courses and research experiences that are integrated with programs across the Dental School and the UT San Antonio campus at large. Importantly, sponsored activities identified here will strongly promote collaboration and networking among all trainees and get them excited about research that will provide future clinicians/scientists who are interested in academic research. In addition, by formally developing a tracking and 360 evaluation plan will continuously improve our training program, which will provide an optimal environment for research training of new dental scientists. Project Number: 5R25DE032518-02 | Fiscal Year: 2026 | NIH Institute/Center: National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) | Principal Investigator: Brij Singh (+1 co-PI) | Institution: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER, SAN ANTONIO, TX | Award Amount: $134,934 | Activity Code: R25 | Study Section: ZDE1-TO(21) View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11266201