ABSTRACT This proposal is a competing continuation of a T-32 Institutional Training Grant in Tissue Engineering and Regeneration (DE07057-45). Since its inception, over 140 trainees have completed this Program (92% completion %), with 82% in a research-intensive or research-related career. A primary goal of modern dentistry and medicine is to predictably restore tissues and organs that have been lost due to pathology, trauma, or congenital abnormalities. Recent advances in understanding the factors, cells and mechanisms regulating tissue function, coupled with new materials science technologies capable of providing physiological cues to sites of repair and advances in imaging and bioinformatics have provided the tools required for researchers to focus on designing "tissue engineered products" for therapeutic use. These efforts require an interdisciplinary approach, with involvement of biomedical scientists, engineers, and clinical researchers. TEAM (Tissue Engineering at Michigan), a Training Program in tissue engineering and regeneration, was developed with recognition of the need to train individuals in these various disciplines and of the need to ensure active exchange of ideas between individuals across disciplines. The goal of our Program is to provide an interdisciplinary research-intensive training environment to enable a scientifically and demographically diverse set of individuals to pursue independent research careers in the oral sciences, with a focus in the area of restoration of dental-oral-craniofacial tissues. This goal is achieved through coursework, research training, seminars, journal clubs, career development, responsible conduct of research and intellectual interplay at the intersection of the life sciences, engineering and dentistry. This Training Program provides intensive training opportunities in both basic biomedical and clinical science, enabling trainees to work at the interface of clinical and basic science. Our Training Program is comprised of 3 groups of trainees (2 year appointments each): 1) DDS/Ph.D. (4 slots); 2) Ph.D. (4 slots), and 3) Post-doctoral Fellow (2 slots). Trainees will be selected based on strong academic records, research potential, recommendation letters and commitment to a research career focused in oral science, with an emphasis on tissue engineering and regeneration. Mentors undergo mentor-the-mentor and DEI training and we have developed T32-specific initiatives to recruit and retain underrepresented individuals. TEAM is a multidisciplinary program that spans across departmental and school boundaries, providing trainees the flexibility to choose mentors across departments. TEAM involves 3 schools, Dentistry, Medicine and Engineering, where in addition to core training elements in tissue engineering, didactic training is provided through the degree-granting departments at these schools. The University of Michigan recognizes the importance of quality training programs and is committed to train...