... the largest Division of the IADR, with over 4,00

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Local Student Research Group (SRG) Start Up Kit

• Presented by the
• AADR National Student Research Group (NSRG)

www.aadronline.org/nsrg
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Whats Included

• IADR/AADR and NSRG
• What can the NSRG do for you?
• Starting a local SRG
• SRG activities
• Writing and presenting your research
• Funding opportunities
• Careers in dental research and academics

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IADR/AADR and NSRG
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IADR/AADR and NSRG

• You are a member of three distinct but related
  groups NSRG, AADR, and IADR.
• All student members of the AADR are automatically
  members of the NSRG.
• This includes, Residents, Graduate Students, and
  Dental Students all student members are
  eligible to be officers of the NSRG!

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IADR/AADR and NSRG

• International Association for Dental Research
• The IADR was created to advance research and
  increase knowledge for the improvement of oral
  health worldwide by
• Promoting oral health research through global
  Divisions and Sections.
• Establishing partnerships with oral health,
  scientific and educational groups.
• Increasing membership and participation in
  scientific meetings.
• Developing the IADR Global Headquarters as a
  communications hub.
• Disseminating and applying research findings.

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IADR/AADR and NSRG

• American Association for Dental Research
• The AADR is the largest Division of the IADR,
  with over 4,000 members in the United States.
• The mission of the AADR is
• To advance research and increase knowledge for
  the improvement of oral health,
• To support and represent the oral health research
  community, and
• To facilitate the communication and application
  of research findings.

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IADR/AADR and NSRG

• National Student Research Group
• The National Student Research Group is the
  largest scientific group within the AADR with
  over 1,000 student members annually.
• The NSRGs goal is to foster an environment in
  every dental school whereby students interested
  in enriching their dental education through
  research are encouraged to do so.
• Visit the NSRG Web site at www.aadronline.org/nsrg
  for more information!

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What can the NSRG do for you?
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What can the NSRG do for you?

• The primary purpose of the NSRG is to promote
  student research.
• Secondarily the NSRG seeks to
• Promote the advancement of dental research and
  careers in dental research.
• Further the stated aims and objectives of the
  AADR and the IADR as they relate to student
  research.

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What can the NSRG do for you?

• Promote student research
• Support current student research and create new
  outlets for student research opportunities.
• Direct students towards funding opportunities.
• Facilitate and encourage opportunities for
  students to share and promote their research.
• Hinman Symposium
• ADA Conference on Student Research
• Regional Student Research Conference(s)
• The NSRG Board actively seeks new opportunities
  to encourage current and future dental
  researchers.

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What can the NSRG do for you?

• Advancement of dental research
• Encourage quality student research and
  involvement.
• Annual AADR NSRG Competitions
• DENTSPLY/Caulk Clinical and Basic Science
  Competition
• Local SRG Contests (Newsletter, Membership and
  Abstracts)
• Peer review
• Offer a range of student experiences to allow
  students to practice with peer, local mentors,
  and institutional mentors.

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What can the NSRG do for you?

• NSRG Board Activities
• The NSRG Board meets three times a year to
  discuss the direction of student research and how
  to best improve the research experience for our
  student members.
• Students obtain seats on the Board via an annual
  election.
• Students are encouraged to contact Board members
  with opinions and questions.
• Although NSRG meetings are closed, minutes are
  made available upon request.
• Several students are appointed by the Board to
  serve on committees.

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What can the NSRG do for you?

• Networking
• The NSRG facilitates the collaboration of
  students with common interests via Regional,
  AADR, and IADR Annual meetings.
• Networking events provide an environment free of
  competition for students to learn from each other
  by sharing their research experiences.
• Connect with other students using the NSRG online
  discussion forums, located at http//www.aadronlin
  e.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid3792.

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Starting a local SRG
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Starting a local SRG

• What is often required from your University for
  the formation of new student groups?
• Student interest
• Constitution and Bylaws
• Officers and members

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Starting a local SRG

• Formation of a Constitution and Bylaws
• The Constitution and Bylaws is essential to
  define the groups fundamental purpose and
  processes as well as the organizational structure
  and specific procedures of the group.
• Consider modeling your Constitution and Bylaws
  after the AADR NSRG Constitution and Bylaws
• http//dentalresearch.i4a.com/i4a/pages/Index.cfm?
  pageID3491

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Starting a local SRG

• Formation of a Constitution and Bylaws
• Writing your own Constitution and Bylaws
• If you do need to create your own then the
  general structure should include the following
  (consider the AADR and the NSRG as an example)

• Name
• Objectives
• Organization
• Government
• Officers
• Nominations and Elections

• Membership requirements and eligibility
• Payment of Dues
• Meeting structure and frequency
• Authorized Banks, and Expenditures

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Starting a local SRG

• Members
• How will you encourage membership?
• Will you have a dues structure?
• If so, how much?
• What will the dues be used for?
• This should be defined in the Constitution.
• Members also join the IADR/AADR as student
  members (45 a year for 2009)
• For updated annual membership pricing, please
  refer to the printable membership application on
  the AADR Web site at http//www.aadronline.org/i4a
  /pages/index.cfm?pageid3478.

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Starting a local SRG

• Officers
• Examples include President, Vice-president,
  Secretary, Treasurer (if you will collect
  funds/dues), Webmaster, class representatives,
  science officer, etc.
• Outline procedures for nomination and election of
  officials, terms, and guidelines/standards of SRG
  officers.

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Starting a local SRG

• Faculty Support
• The local chapter of the SRG will need the
  support of faculty members including
• The Dean or Associate Research Dean of the
  college/university.
• Research faculty members.
• These individuals are needed to provide
  mentorship and research experience for student
  projects.

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Starting a local SRG

• Selecting a Faculty Advisor
• Selection of an enthusiastic faculty advisor to
  assist the student leaders of the SRG is critical
  to your SRGs long-term success.
• When selecting a faculty advisor of a Student
  Research Group chapter, consider the following
  roles
• The faculty advisor plays a key role in
  maintaining the groups steady momentum and
  continuity during membership turnover.
• The faculty advisor is a liaison to school
  administration and faculty.

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Starting a local SRG

• The faculty advisor develops/mentors student
  leadership.
• The faculty advisor encourages active faculty
  support. Faculty support and assistance are an
  integral part of the ultimate success of the SRG
  and its objectives.
• The faculty advisor serves as a link between both
  students interested in research and those
  involved in research.
• Faculty advisors may encourage local and regional
  interaction among students through regional
  meetings and research competitions.

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SRG activities
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SRG activities

• Keeping student members interested and involved
  is key to the growth of your schools SRG.
• Starting a Journal club
• Journal clubs provide a forum for research
  articles and abstracts to be discussed among
  students and faculty.
• Journal clubs bring about awareness and
  discussion of current issues/research topics and
  also train participants to evaluate scientific
  literature.

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SRG activities

• Goals of your Journal club could include
• Introduction of research topics of interest.
• Creation of an environment for discussion of
  current issues.
• Guidance for critical reading and interpretation
  of results.
• It only takes a few interested students/faculty
  and a rotating discussion leader to start!

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SRG activities

• Journal clubs could take place before or after
  classes/clinics or during lunch.
• The discussion leader will select an interesting
  article in advance and e-mail it to club members.
  (the Journal of Dental Research is a great source
  for articles!)
• The club discusses research done in the article
• Project objectives
• Research design, data
• Major findings and result interpretation
• Conclusions
• Relevance to dentistry/oral health

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SRG activities

• Guest lecturers can attend journal club meetings
• They can come to discuss their previously
  published or ongoing research.
• The forum can serve as a recruiting/advertising
  tool for students interested in working on a
  project or just learning more about the research
  at their school/university.
• Your journal club can be held as often as you
  feel necessary.
• Some SRGs host a journal club meeting once a
  month, others may only have one or two a
  semester.

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SRG activities

• Newsletters
• Serve as a communication tool for SRG members.
• Can be detailed or simple depending on your
  message.
• A Newsletter can provide various information for
  your SRG
• Announce school activities
• Promote membership
• Highlight SRG members
• Spotlight student research
• Identify research opportunities with faculty
  advisors
• Inform students of regional, IADR/AADR and NSRG
  awards

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SRG activities

• Questions to answer before starting an SRG
  newsletter
• Who will be your audience? (students, faculty,
  whole student body)
• How often will you release your letter? (monthly,
  semester, annual)
• What will be the contents of your newsletter?
• In what form will you publish? (e-mail, hard
  copy)
• Who will create and maintain? (SRG Board, a
  specific officer, faculty advisor)

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SRG activities

• Build a foundation for your newsletter so it can
  be successful for many years to come.
• Delegate responsibility to a SRG Board member or
  appointee to update and maintain the newsletter.
• Apply for the AADR NSRG Newsletter award, an
  annual monetary prize for the best SRG
  publication!

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SRG activities

• The following are other activities that have been
  organized by some local SRG chapters
• Lunch and Learns
• Table clinics
• Publish annual research abstracts
• Fundraising events
• Hands-on workshops
• SRG Bulletin Board
• Social events
• Annual awards for students and faculty

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Writing and presenting your research
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Writing and presenting your research

• How to Prepare an Abstract
• An abstract is
• Brief description of the research conducted
• Organized into specific sections
• Traditionally less than 300 words in length
• Tip look at the requirements for your conference
  or competition, they will also specify length. If
  you exceed your word limit, you may be penalized,
  or worse, rejected.
• Used by readers and researchers to determine if
  the topic warrants further attention or pertains
  to their specific interest.

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Writing and presenting your research

• Sections of an Abstract
• Background
• Information pertinent to the topic
• Builds interest
• May cite previous work in area or work leading up
  to this
• Example Human beta defensins (HBDs) are
  cationic, antimicrobial peptides produced by
  epithelial cells. Previously, our laboratory
  reported an altered expression and induction
  pattern in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC)
  when compared to normal primary keratinocytes,
  suggesting an involvement in cancer.

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Writing and presenting your research

• Sections of an Abstract
• Purpose
• Overall goal(s) of the research
• What the researcher set out to accomplish
• Example The goal of this study was to evaluate
  HBD-1, 2 and 3 loci for SNPs which could account
  for altered expression. Additionally, restriction
  fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assays were
  developed for future large-scale screening of
  identified polymorphisms (SNPs).

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Writing and presenting your research

• Sections of an Abstract
• Methods
• Concise description of the experiments/methodology
  used to conduct the research
• Example DNA from 17 healthy subjects and 13
  OSCC cell lines were PCR amplified and the
  products separated by gel electrophoresis.
  Correctly sized bands were extracted and
  purified. Bidirectional sequencing of the
  promoter regions for HBD-1, 2 and 3 were
  performed. RFLP analyses for each SNP identified
  were performed.

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Writing and presenting your research

• Sections of an Abstract
• Results
• Data obtained from performing the experiments
• Includes statistical values
• Example For HBD-1, SNPs at positions -52bp and
  -20bp of the promoter region were significantly
  more frequent in the healthy population compared
  to the cancer population (P 0.000671 and P
  0.016) respectively. For HBD-2, SNPs at positions
  -913bp, -924bp, -1028bp in the promoter region
  were significantly correlated with cancer
  (P0.000598, P0.00553, and P0.000598,
  respectively). For HBD-3, a SNP located at -445bp
  was significantly correlated with cancer
  (P0.0089). Unlike HBD-2 and 3, HBD-1 was
  homozygous in the cancer population.

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Writing and presenting your research

• Sections of an Abstract
• Conclusion
• Impact of results
• Do the results support or refute the hypothesis?
• Example Our results support the presence of
  genetic variation in normal and OSCC cell lines
  which may account for differences in expression.
  Frequencies computed for the different alleles
  identified a strong association between SNPs and
  health status. These preliminary results suggest
  the potential use of beta-defensins as markers of
  OSCC. Furthermore, loss of heterozygosity
  combined with the cancer associated SNPs observed
  for HBD-1, suggest its potential role as a cancer
  suppressor gene. Future studies are needed to
  confirm these findings in a larger population.

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Writing and presenting your research

• Common Abstract Errors
• Too long or too short
• Too much detail
• Hard to follow because of lack of appropriate
  transitions
• Failure to direct the focus of the reader
• Lack of statistical evaluation or improper
  statistical tests employed

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Writing and presenting your research

• Final Abstract Tips
• Organize the abstract into chronological order
• Make logical connections between components
• Transitions between ideas will help guide the
  reader
• Avoid unnecessary details
• Make sure you are using the correct and
  appropriate keywords. This is how others will
  search for and find your abstract and
  publication.
• Edit, edit, edit!

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Writing and presenting your research

• Presentations Oral, Posters, Table Clinics, and
  Competitions
• Where to Start?
• Event Pick the event that you and your mentor
  determine is the best means of showcasing your
  work. You may choose to initially present your
  work as poster presentation and as you gain
  experience and confidence in presenting, you may
  elect to present orally and enter a competition.
• First look at the event that you will be
  presenting at.
• Examine the rules and know the expected time
  limitations and performance expectations to avoid
  unpleasant surprises.
• Who is your audience? What is their background in
  your area of research? Direct your wording and
  visuals towards those viewing to increase
  understanding.

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Writing and presenting your research

• Research Topic
• Is your topic better related in a slide-based
  presentation to an audience?
• Is your topic better related in a small group
  setting by directing them through visual
  representations?
• The truth is that there may be an easy conversion
  between the two or that either format may work,
  depending on your comfort level and experience.
• It is most important to fully understand your
  research so that you can coherently explain it to
  those who dont.

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Writing and presenting your research

• Is your research complete?
• Check and recheck statistics and results and make
  sure you understand them to avoid an embarrassing
  situation.
• Never present false data or falsify your results.
  This is unethical.
• If your results are preliminary, what is the next
  step? What is the future direction of your
  project?
• Gather
• Collect preliminary research
• Collect previous work related to topic

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Writing and presenting your research

• Getting Started
• Map out a plan
• Map out your time line, allowing time for edits
  and practice.
• It is often helpful to look at others
  presentations.
• Start writing
• Some start from the beginning to chronologically
  sequence their steps and thinking.
• Some start from the end to trace the path taken
  to the end.
• Some just dig in and write what they feel like.

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Writing and presenting your research

• Getting Started
• Edit
• Remove unnecessary information or clutter.
• Remove distracting information.
• Proof read.
• Allow multiple people to edit and proof read.
• It may be helpful at this stage to give a mock
  presentation to ensure content and flow.
• Make sure that the presentation logically flows
  from one idea to the next one.

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Writing and presenting your research

• Getting Started
• Visuals
• Be creative.
• Choose the visual that makes an impact and
  clearly conveys the message.
• Dont be afraid of colors but be careful of using
  too many. It could be distracting.
• Many may not read or listen to every word of your
  presentation. Figures and tables must be able to
  stand alone.
• Use tables and graphs to summarize your data.
• Make sure of the acceptable resolution of the
  reformatted and compressed visual files.

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Writing and presenting your research

• Putting it together
• Create a logical flow of information that guides
  your audience through your topic in an efficient
  and intelligible fashion.
• Dont overwhelm your audience.
• Keep slides or panels simple.
• You only need to put the main points because you
  will be explaining the rest.
• Reflect on your presentation to make sure you
  havent lost focus of purpose and audience.

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Writing and presenting your research

• Product
• Practice, practice, practice
• The more comfortable you are with your topic, the
  better you will be at explaining and sharing it.
• Get excited! Hopefully, during the process,
  youve had a chance to reflect on your research
  accomplishments and you fully understand the work
  it requires. If you dont show your audience that
  you are excited, why should they be?

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Writing and presenting your research

• Presentation
• Keep multiple copies of resources.
• Familiarize yourself with equipment and
  atmosphere.
• Rehearse prior to presenting.
• Get enough sleep, eat and dont overdo the
  caffeine.
• Make eye contact and engage your audience.
• Speak slowly and project your voice.
• Encourage questions and acknowledge sponsors or
  funding sources.
• Provide contacts for those interested in further
  discussion.
• When it is done, be proud of your accomplishments!

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Writing and presenting your research

• Important points to remember
• Know your research well.
• Create a presentation that flows logically.
• Dont try to put too much material in your
  presentation.
• Practice several times.

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Funding opportunities
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Funding opportunities

• In order to have the most productive research
  experience, it is helpful to have some financial
  support. This will depend on many different
  factors and local environmental issues, but there
  are some consistent themes.
• In general you will see funding at several
  different levels.
• Local funding
• AADR awards
• IADR awards
• NIDCR Individual fellowships and training
  opportunities

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Funding opportunities

• Local Funding
• Many schools have summer student research
  fellowships, work-study programs, training
  grants, and faculty-sponsored research.
• Local dental associations or AADR Sections may
  have awards.
• AADR awards
• AADR Student Research Fellowships.
• An AADR NSRG Specialty Group Award is available
  in Pathology.
• AADR NSRG IADR Scientific Group Awards
  (proposed).
• AADR/ADEA Academic Dental Career Fellowship
  Program (ADCFP).
• AADR Hatton Awards Competition.
• AADR Block Travel Grant An NIDCR-sponsored
  travel award that funds AADR NSRG students to
  travel to present their work at the IADR Annual
  meeting.

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Funding opportunities

• IADR Awards
• IADR Hatton Awards Qualified AADR Hatton
  recipients will compete in this IADR competition.
• IADR/Colgate Research in Prevention Travel
  Awards.
• IADR Scientific Group Awards (some for students).

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Funding opportunities

• NIDCR Individual fellowships and training
  opportunities
• There are many incentives and opportunities to
  pursue both short-term research experiences and
  long-term research training. The following is
  just a brief list of examples. For further
  explanation, please see http//www.nidcr.nih.gov/
  .
• NIDCR Summer Dental Student Award
• Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Research
  Scholars Program
• Postdoctoral Fellowships
• Loan Repayment Programs

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Funding opportunities

• Formal training and PhD programs
• In order to pursue research and academics as a
  career, some students augment their dental degree
  with formal research training resulting in a PhD.
  
• In some cases, students can combine their DDS
  training with PhD training and receive stipend
  support and tuition remission throughout the
  process.
• These programs are variable depending on the
  institution(s) that sponsor the degrees. A
  survey of available dual-degree programs was
  published in the Journal of Dental Education in
  2006.
• Roger, JM A survey of dual-degree training
  opportunities at US dental schools. J Dent Educ.
  2006 Sep70(9)909-17.
• Information about NIDCR-sponsored programs (not
  all dual-degree programs are NIDCR sponsored) can
  be found at http//www.nidcr.nih.gov/.

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Careers in dental research and academics
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Careers in dental research and academics

• Careers in dental research and academics are in
  high demand.
• More than 250 academic positions are currently
  unfilled (Chmar et al) and there are decreasing
  numbers of those interested in pursuing research
  and academics.
• Approximately 75 of the available academic
  positions are found in clinical sciences whereas
  6 are in the basic sciences.
• Of the remaining positions available around U.S.
  dental schools, nearly 12 can be considered
  academic-track research positions (Herzberg et
  al).

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Careers in dental research and academics

• In addition to academics, there are positions
  available within industry and dental laboratories
  around the nation.
• Detailed reports and surveys regarding the
  increasing vacancies in dental academics and
  research have been published in recent years.
• Chmar JE, Weaver RG, Valachovic RW (2006). Dental
  school vacant budgeted faculty positions
  academic year 2004-2005. J Dent Educ 70188-198.
• Herzberg MC, Griffith LG, Doyle MJ (2006).
  Driving the future of dental research. J Dent
  Res 85(6)486-487.
• Therefore, students interested pursuing these
  tracks have many options available to them.
• SRGs can match interested students with mentors
  in your school who can help them to pursue this
  track.

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Questions?
Comments?

• Contact the AADR National Student Research Group
  (NSRG)
• nsrg_at_aadronline.org

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