# UCLA Dentist-Scientist and Oral Health-Researcher Training Program

> **NIH NIH T90** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2024 · $448,976

## Abstract

In response to PAR-20-056, we propose to reestablish the T90/R90 comprehensive institutional training
program at the UCLA School of Dentistry. This application has been built on more than 20 years of our
combined research training and career development at UCLA that launched careers of dentist-scientists and
oral health-scientists and prepared them for adverse challenges in science, healthcare, and society. The
application continues this long-standing tradition and aims to bolster a vigorous and diverse dental, oral and
craniofacial research workforce via a rigorous and interdisciplinary training program that offers trainees novel
and innovative research training experiences in a highly supportive institutional environment. We have
assembled an excellent team of faculty mentors who embody four areas of scientific strengths – (1) Cancer
Biology, Oral Cancer & Stem Cells, (2) Craniofacial Biology, Bioengineering & Regenerative Medicine, (3)
Microbes – Virulence Mechanisms and Advanced Imaging by CryoEM, and (4) Translational Genetics,
Epigenetics, & Genomics. Our interdisciplinary training program links trainees to mentors at the School of
Dentistry, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Molecular
Biology Institute, Stem Cell Institute, and California NanoSystem Institute. The integration of these
interdepartmental centers and institutes provides a rich training environment with enormous physical resources
and centralized core facilities. We offer five training tracks, (i) Dentist-Scientist Trainee Program (dual degree
DDS/PhD), (ii) Dentist-PhD Program (predoctoral research training to dentists), (iii) Dentist-Scientists
Postdoctoral Fellow (postdoctoral training to dentists), (iv) Predoctoral PhD Trainee (predoctoral training in oral
health), and (v) Oral Health Postdoctoral Fellow (postdoctoral training in oral health). Collectively, our proposed
training program will train the next generation of dentist-scientists and oral health scientists to conduct basic,
translational, and clinical research to improve dental, oral, and craniofacial health.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10875280
- **Project number:** 5T90DE030860-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Hung Ton-That
- **Activity code:** T90 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $448,976
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-07-01 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10875280

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10875280, UCLA Dentist-Scientist and Oral Health-Researcher Training Program (5T90DE030860-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10875280. Licensed CC0.

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