Dr. Phil Stashenko, president and CEO of the Forsyth Institute; and Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D., president and CEO of MLSC, celebrate the grand opening of the new center.
Cambridge, MA – The Forsyth Institute has officially opened its new salivary diagnostics center in Cambridge. The new facility will focus its efforts on revolutionizing medical diagnostics and replacing blood-based tests with tests that use saliva. The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) awarded Forsyth a $4.2 million grant in 2013 to help develop this center.
The architect for the project was ARC, Inc., and the builder was Jones Lang LaSalle, both of Boston.
“Salivary diagnostics constitute a revolutionary new direction for the early detection of human disease,” said Dr. Phil Stashenko, president and CEO of the Forsyth Institute. “Saliva contains virtually all of the same medical diagnostic information as blood, including DNA, proteins, hormones, metabolites, and immune effectors, but is obtained noninvasively and painlessly. Most salivary diagnostics studies at Forsyth involve the discovery of new biomarkers for oral as well as systemic diseases. The center takes advantage of its access to large, carefully defined patient populations, combined with Forsyth’s long-standing expertise in oral and associated systemic diseases, and history of diagnostics development.”
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“This project is a great match for the goals of the MLSC capital program, as this innovative new facility will strengthen Massachusetts’ global leadership in the life sciences community,” said Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the agency charged with implementing Governor Patrick’s 10-year, $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative.
“The mission of the Forsyth Institute’s Center for Salivary Diagnostics is to be on the cutting edge of scientific research and translation in oral health and related biomedical sciences, and with the commitment of their research staff and the community I’m sure they will accomplish that goal. We are also pleased to see that our investment is helping to leverage substantial additional funding from other sources.”
