John Forrest Jr, MD

In Memoriam: 1938–2024

Dr. John N. Forrest, Jr., MD, was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and came to Yale as one of Dr. Paul Beeson's last interns in Internal Medicine in 1964. He was a Professor of Medicine (Nephrology) and the Director of the Office of Student Research at Yale School of Medicine. He was a graduate of Ursinus College (1960) which awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Science degree (Sc.D Hon) in 2001. Dr. Forrest had a broad interest in aspects of basic and clinical nephrology. His laboratory's major efforts were the study of mechanisms of lithium induced nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, the study of water metabolism and acid-base regulation by the kidney, and the study of hormonal signal transduction and potassium and chloride channels in the salt gland of the dogfish shark, an ancient model of the thick ascending limb of the kidney. He was a member of the ASN, ASCI, AAP, AHA and ACCA and also was a past president of the Interurban Clinical Club. From 1998 until 2009, he was the Director of the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) in Bar Harbor Maine where he had been an active investigator for 46 years. As Director of the Office of Student Research, he began the combined MD-MHS (Masters of Health Sciences), the IPE (Intensive Pedagogical Experience) at MDIBL and the START@Yale program for first year medical students.