Abstract This R13 proposal seeks support for the 2023 Forsyth Symposium entitled “The Oral Microbiome: Past, Present, and Future,” which is proposed to take place at the Forsyth Institute on September 14-15, 2023, with a pre-conference workshop on presentation skills for trainees on September 13. The overall objectives of the symposium are to catalyze innovative thinking about areas where focused basic research on the oral microbiome will lead to improvements in human health; to promote collaboration among researchers using new approaches to advance the field of oral microbial ecology; and to honor and celebrate the pioneering work of Floyd Dewhirst and Bruce Paster on the oral microbiome, to transmit their knowledge and inspire a younger generation to continue their legacy of innovative science. An important goal is to provide the opportunity for trainees to interact with experts in the field and to encourage full participation of persons who are traditionally under-represented in science, including women, members of minority groups, and persons with disabilities. The symposium will include poster presentations by attendees and talks by Susan Bullman, Otto Cordero, Katherine Lemon, Tami Lieberman, Dennis Mangan, Dianne Newman, Frank Nichols, Jessica Scoffield, and William Wade. Scientific questions that will be addressed by the symposium include: what are the rules governing colonization of microbes at different sites within the mouth and what governs whether oral microbes colonize elsewhere in the body? How can the study of both oral and non-oral microbial communities illuminate oral microbial ecology? How do oral bacteria influence systemic health and disease? The symposium will also seek to bring together academic scientists with leaders from industry and venture capital, to brainstorm about what foundational experiments could lay the groundwork for therapeutic manipulation of the oral microbiome. If this conference succeeds as intended, it will enable individual investigators to form new high-quality collaborations and develop innovative grant proposals to carry out fundamental research that will elucidate the mechanisms and consequences of oral microbiome colonization, taxon-taxon interaction, and the systemic effects of oral microbiomes. Even more significantly, we hope that this conference will inspire and support new funding opportunity announcements by funding agencies, and new collaborations between business and academic researchers to drive innovation in oral microbiome research and its contribution to overall human health and well-being.

Narrative Our mouths are colonized by a complex community of bacteria and other microbes – the oral microbiome. The objectives of the Forsyth Symposium 2023 on “The Oral Microbiome: Past, Present, and Future” are to catalyze innovative thinking about areas where focused basic research on the oral microbiome will lead to improvements in human health; to promote collaboration among researchers using new approaches to advance the field of oral microbial ecology; and to honor and celebrate the pioneering work of Floyd Dewhirst and Bruce Paster, to inspire a younger generation of diverse scientists to continue their legacy of innovative science on the oral microbiome to improve human health and well-being.