NIDCR continues 60th anniversary celebration

Bethesda, Md.鈥擳he National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research celebrates its 60th anniversary with a scientific symposium on the NIH campus June 24, continuing a year-long commemoration flowering spring through fall.

Created as the National Institute of Dental Research, one of the National Institutes of Health, the renamed NIDCR today is the nation’s leading source of oral, dental and craniofacial research funds. President Harry Truman signed the National Dental Research Act on June 24, 1948.

Following year 60 presentations and symposia in Chicago, Dallas, Texas, and Miami, Fla., the NIDCR brings the celebration home on anniversary day with a scientific symposium in the NIH Natcher Auditorium, Building 45 (NIH Visitor’s Map and other travel and transportation information). The no fee no pre-registration symposium is open to the profession and public.

The agenda includes presentations on building the molecular toolbox and the human microbiome: biology’s next revolution. Elias Zerhouni, M.D., director of the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Lawrence A. Tabak, NIDCR director, are among the scheduled speakers. Salivary diagnostics, gene therapy strategies, genetic risk factors for temporomandibular and other disorders and tissue engineering are among the topics of invited speakers. The NIH launched the human microbiome project to better understand how microorganisms interact with the human body to affect health and disease.

Symposium attendees can receive five hours of continuing dental education credit. The CDE certification forms will be available on site. NIDCR is an ADA CERP Recognized Provider.