Monell Sensations

Monell Center Blog

  • When it comes to the sense of smell, our understanding of its logic is incomplete. Luis Saraiva, PhD, is one of a group scientists dedicated to changing that reality....

  • What properties allow molecules to be odorous? The Mainland Lab provides answers to one of the most fundamental questions about the sense of smell....

  • Associate Director Danielle Reed, PhD shares her thoughts [LINK] on science communication and her experience working with other chemosensory scientists at the University of Gdańsk, Poland....

  • Why would we need the ability to taste sour, or acidity in the first place? Many chemosensory scientists maintain that it first evolved as a warning system for foods that had turned or were otherwise toxic or unhealthy to eat....

  • For nutritionists and food scientists, creating a personalized plan to lower added sugar intake from artificially sweetened, processed foods may seem unworkable. Perhaps not....

  • Whether the human sense of smell overall is declining or if we’re truly better at smelling body odor is still a mystery, but one thing is certain – the number of questions to explore in sensory science will likely continue to rise....

  • If canine biodetectors of bird flu and other wildlife diseases prove successful and advantageous over current disease surveillance methods, they will become invaluable. The ability of dogs to smell disease may one day save your life, or perhaps even prevent a pandemic!...

  • Photographer: CJ Arayata (@cj_arayata)...

  • Dr. Emily Mayhew received her PhD in food science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. For the past three years, she has been a postdoctoral fellow at the Mainland Lab where she worked to predict odor characteristics of molecules based on their structural characteristics.......

  • Alissa Smethers, PhD, received her PhD in Nutrition science from Pennsylvania State University. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Menella Lab where she looks at both children and their mothers as a dyad, sweet taste phenotypes, and new measures of dietary habits that......

  • For more than 40 years, the Monell Science Apprenticeship Program (MSAP) has grown to become a pillar of mentorship, one of five core values of Monell Chemical Senses Center. Mentorship that stimulates interest in science is crucial for the next generations of scientists. “This is......

  • Our sense of smell is central to how we interact with our world and how we form memories of special moments and bonds. However, for many of us, it was not until the COVID-19 pandemic had taken away people’s ability to smell that we became......

  • Understanding how mammals process sweet taste has been one of Monell’s most important and longest research quests. Many of us eat too much sugar, and to help limit overconsumption, a better understanding of how sweet taste works is key. Scientists have known for over two......

  • Chanyi Lu, PhD, received her doctorate in microbiology from Fudan University in Shanghai, China. She currently works in the laboratory of Peihua Jiang, PhD, researching parasites and tuft cells in the small intestine in addition to taste tissue regeneration in the tongue. Q. I know......

  • Dolly Al Koborssy, PhD, received her doctorate in neuroscience from Florida State University. She currently works in the laboratory of Johannes Reisert, PhD, using single-cell electrophysiology on olfactory receptor neurons to understand the olfactory response to different odorants and mechanisms underlying olfactory adaptation. Q. AChemS......