Professor Terrence Forrester

DIRECTOR OF THE TMRI

Professor Terrence Forrester is the director of the Tropical Medicine Research Institute (TMRI) at the UWI, Mona. During the period August 1, 2008 to July 31, 2009 he published fourteen research manuscripts; thirteen of which appeared in internationally recognized journals while the remaining one was published in the University’s West Indian Medical Journal. He also attracted research funds amounting to approximately US$467,000.

Research Interests

Professor Forrester's principal research priority was the elucidation of the mechanisms which underlie the increased risk of obesity and cardio metabolic disease in populations from poor societies with a history of chronic under nutrition. He and his research team have explored, in depth, body composition, fuel partitioning related to body composition, appetite control of macronutrient selection and the influence on energy intake, insulin sensitivity, and cardiac and conduit artery structure and function, all phenotypic components of the obesity and cardiometabolic risk that characterize such undernourished populations.

WORKING WITH OVERSEAS PARTNERS

In collaboration with partners in UK and New Zealand, the research team simultaneously looked at some of the cellular and epigenetic underpinnings of the phenotypic differences between well-nourished populations and malnourished ones. The findings are relevant for making public policy to better guide how undernourished populations might transition into technological lifestyles while minimizing the burden of obesity and chronic disease.