Richard Lamont, Ph.D., receives prestigious NIH Award

Richard Lamont, Ph.D., a professor in the UF College of Dentistry department of oral biology, recently received a MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) award from the National Institutes of Health, an honor bestowed on fewer than 5 percent of NIH-funded investigators. Initiated in 1987, the MERIT Award program extends funding to experienced researchers who have superior grants and who have demonstrated a long-term commitment to and success in research. In January, Lamont received a five-year, $2.4 million grant for his study investigating the molecular dialogue between oral bacteria and host cells, which has yielded groundbreaking insights into the bacterial lifestyle within humans. In May Lamont was notified that the original award had been named a MERIT Award, which essentially upgrades his grant from a five-year to a 10-year term and guarantees additional funding during the second five-year phase of the study.