Forsyth Orthodontic Symposium
The first Forsyth Orthodontic Symposium is set to honor the late Dr. Moorrees, who was the Director of Orthodontics at the Forsyth Institute from 1948-1989. We asked Dr. Ravindra Nanda, one of the event organizers, to outline what this inaugural symposium will entail and why it is honoring Dr. Moorrees. Dr. Nanda specializes as an orthodontist and is an adjunct faculty member at Forsyth.
Before joining Forsyth, Dr. Nanda taught at the University of Connecticut College of Dental Medicine for 47 years, serving as the department head of craniofacial sciences and Chair of the Division of Orthodontics. He has since retired but stays busy teaching courses, giving lectures, and serving as the editor in chief of Progress in Orthodontics. Dr. Nanda has many direct and indirect connections to Dr. Moorrees which makes his perspective on this symposium unique. Here’s what he had to say.
Q&A with Dr. Nanda
What is your connection to Forsyth?
My connection with Forsyth goes way back. My brother, Ram, who happens to be 16 years older than me, came to Forsyth in 1950 from India on a scholarship. And he worked with Dr. Moorrees, who was the head of orthodontics and Forsyth. So, when he came back after his PhD and all that I was still a student for a couple of years in India before I moved to the US. All I heard about was what he learned from Dr. Moorrees. So, that’s where my connection to Forsyth started. And my brother is still alive, and very excited about the symposium taking place.
Additionally, I am extremely impressed with the leadership of Dr. Shi. I fully subscribed to his vision of Forsyth as a leader in basic and clinical dental research.
What was Dr. Moorrees’s most important contribution to the field of orthodontics?
I think he was a visionary because he involved himself with orthodontic research back when it was not in fashion. He did some classic work on the development of dentition; he wrote a book on this subject too which is still valid today. He also started longitudinal twin studies of how the growth and development of the face takes place.
Has Dr. Moorrees’s work influenced your own research in any way?
Oh yes indeed! In early 1967 I went to Holland, for four years as a PhD student. Dr. Moorrees was a very well respected and known orthodontist both for his Dutch heritage and contributions. I met him and heard him give some classic research and clinical lectures. I still remember my personal interaction with him. He was a role model for someone like me in 1967 to follow his research journey and incorporate in my own work.
What led you to become an event organizer for this symposium?
Well, Dr. Shi invited me to be an adjunct professor. One of the things he told me was “Hey, why don’t you manage some of the continuing education courses in orthodontics?” And my first thing to him was about my brother’s connection with Forsyth. He got excited, and he said, ” why don’t you put together this symposium.”
Our symposium has 26 speakers comprising entrepreneurs, orthodontic researchers, and clinicians. Our objective is to have a healthy discussion and interaction among speakers and participants.
How can this conference benefit the field of orthodontics?
We are not looking back at what has taken place. We are looking forward! We want to see how the current translational research and the newer technologies are going to change the way we practice orthodontics.
The other thing we are interested in is how the new products are introduced into our profession by orthodontic companies. Do they have supporting material and evidence-based information?
We have also invited seven orthodontic entrepreneurs. Then we have clinician scientists who are going to talk about what they are doing, why they are doing it and what is the evidence-based material behind it. And then we have some CEOs coming and senior entrepreneurs who are going to talk about what role they’re playing and about how we want to practice orthodontics in future.
