Salivary gland gene therapy: Personal reflections

The purpose of this paper is to describe, in somewhat familiar terms, the personal experiences I had trying to develop a clinically useful gene therapy for dry mouth over an approximately 20-year period. That research journey, which reached fruition in a recently completed Phase I clinical trial, was nurtured by my long career spent at the US National Institutes of Health and, in particular, by working within its hospital, The Clinical Center, the largest research hospital in the world. Through this paper, I wish to transmit several important lessons that I learned on my journey, which I believe will be applicable broadly across oral biology.