Sponsored by: Plenary
Description: BACKGROUND The mission of the AADR National Student Research Group (NSRG), a scientific group of the AADR, is to foster an environment in every dental school whereby students interested in enriching their dental education through research are encouraged to do so. The NSRG is composed of a network of self-governing local student research group (SRG) chapters at each dental school and is led nationally by officers elected through a majority of votes from all members. Consistent with our mission, the NSRG proposes to introduce dental student researchers to research career options through a plenary session given at the 2012 AADR Annual Meeting and Exhibition in Tampa, FL. PURPOSE The NSRG introduces opportunities for students to learn from and interact with successful dental researchers through our annual plenary session. With the success of last year’s plenary session, exemplified by a full meeting room (~50 attendees), the NSRG would like to host a faculty-moderated panel discussion which emphasizes career options for students interested in continuing research following graduation. This year’s plenary session will feature dental scientists who continued research after dental school and secured NIH funding and who are passionate about their research. The presenters will be asked to provide a short biography of the paths they have chosen in dental academics by addressing several topics pre-formulated by the AADR-NSRG Board. The NSRG proposes to have three guest speakers, all of whom have recently completed dental training and successfully secured NIH funding. Based on conversations at last year’s plenary session we anticipate many students will find this topic area useful in helping them explore many options available following graduation.