AUTHOR: KAREN YOUNG KREEGER, pp.14 Date: May 16,1994
Arthritis, AIDS, and signal transduction may not be areas of investigation that immediately come to mind when one thinks of dental research. But the National Institute of Dental Research's (NIDR) range of interests and achievement has in recent years broadened well beyond the institute's original 1948 mandate to improve the oral health of the American people.
In 1948, a congressional mandate set up the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR), the third-oldest of the National Institutes of Health, to "address the then deplorable state of oral health in the United States," according to the institute. NIDR, which today covers 19 areas of research--including such diverse investigations as craniofacial disorders and salivary gland physiology, as well as the traditional areas of periodontal disease and tooth decay--funds both intramural and extramural projects. Some current NIDR statistics: NIDR's budget for fiscal year 1994 is $169.5 ...
