The Forsyth Institute
The Forsyth Institute, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the world’s leading independent research institute dedicated to improving oral health, and reducing interrelated systemic diseases and conditions. The Forsyth Institute portfolio includes basic research, translational research, community-benefit programs for underserved populations and Forsyth Faculty Associates, a private dental practice serving Kendall Square and surrounding areas.
Pioneering Discoveries,Profound Change
The Forsyth Institute’s goal is to improve health through innovative research, education and community care in oral and related biomedical science. Key areas of investigation include: •Oral-Systemic Disease Connections—unlocking the relationships between the mouth and the body including linkages to heart disease, stroke, obesity and diabetes. •Global Infectious Diseases •Molecular Microbiology and Genetics •Immunology and Inflammation •Mineralized Tissue Biology •Development Biology and Regenerative Medicine
Today, Forsyth has 35 principal investigators and more than 100 research associates, students and post-doctoral fellows. Our rapidly evolving research directions include: human genomics and systems biology for individualized oral medicine; saliva-based diagnostics; collaborations with engineering, bioengineering and materials sciences to develop new diagnostics and therapies; deciphering the interplay between humans and the trillions of our bacterial passengers—to promote a lifetime of wellness; and vaccine development for global infectious diseases.
Forsyth is located in Kendall Square, Cambridge, which is an epicenter of biotechnology with one of the highest densities of biomedical researchers in the world. In addition to our Harvard School of Dental Medicine affiliation, Forsyth has numerous collaborations with a range of academic institutions, hospitals, other independent research institutes, and biotech, pharmaceutical, start-up companies. These interactions provide access to internationally acclaimed collaborators, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, specialized facilities, and a wide range of technical and theoretical expertise. Research at Forsyth is organized in four departments: Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Mineralized Tissue Biology, and Applied Oral Sciences. In addition, there are a number of inter-disciplinary Centers that cut across departments, including the Centers for Clinical and Translational Research, the Host-Biofilm Interface, and Global Infectious Diseases.
ForsythKids, is a community program of Forsyth, which brings preventive dental care to school-children in schools throughout Massachusetts. ForsythKids works by going where the children are—in schools, and in some cases community centers and summer camps. It began in 2003 as a pilot program in Boston, Hyannis and Lynn, three communities with a shortage of dental professionals or other issues ofaccess to care. Today, ForsythKids provides care to thousands of children throughout eastern Massachusetts.
The institute was once an infirmary for Pediatric Dental Care in Boston. The Forsyth Dental Infirmary for Children was founded in 1914 by Dr. Thomas Alexander Forsyth and John Hamilton Forsyth in memory of their brothers, George Henry Forsyth and James Bennett Forsyth.[1][2]
It had been located for over a century in the Fenway–Kenmore area of Boston, at 140 The Fenway (Fenway Street), next to the Museum of Fine Arts which acquired the institute's Fenway property prior to its move to Cambridge in 2010.[3] The new headquarters in Cambridge was designed by the architectural firm, ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge, Inc..[4]
The Forsyth Institute is affiliated with the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and also collaborates with many other institutions worldwide.[5]
Departments
- Applied Oral Sciences
- Immunology and Infectious Diseases
- Microbiology
- [Mineralized Tissue Biology]
References
- ↑ "Fine Tribute Paid to Founder of Forsyth Dental Infirmary", The Boston Post, May 7, 1919
- ↑ "THE FORSYTH DENTAL INFIRMARY FOR CHILDREN", Science, 1 January 1915: Vol. 41 no. 1044 pp. 32-33
- ↑ Reidy, Chris, "Forsyth Institute moves to Cambridge", The Boston Globe, August 5, 2009
- ↑ "Portfolio: The Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, MA / Headquarters Relocation", ARC website.
- ↑ "Affiliations", Forsyth Institute website
External links
- Forsyth Institute Official Website
- Harvard School of Dental Medicine website
- Bela Lyon Pratt sculptures of Thomas Alexander Forsyth. Sculptures of some of the Forsyths were commissioned in 1912-1914 to the American sculptor, Bela Lyon Pratt.