17 Jul Meet Monell: Michael Leone Takes Us Behind the Scenes of Science

When most of us think about scientific research, we picture laboratories, microscopes, and scientists busy at the lab bench advancing groundbreaking discoveries. What we often do not consider is the infrastructure that makes those discoveries possible, the people and systems working quietly behind the scenes to ensure researchers can focus entirely on science.

For Michael Leone, Senior Director of Facilities Management at Monell Chemical Senses Center, that responsibility is both a profession and a mission.

“This is my first nonprofit that I’ve ever worked for,” Leone says. “And it certainly has a different feeling. It feels like you’re coming in to work every day to make the world a better place and that’s very special.”

Facilities management has always been close to home for Leone. Growing up, he followed his facilities manager father from building to building, watching projects come to life and learning firsthand what it meant to maintain complex environments. “Facilities work is a family business in my family,” he explains. “My dad did it for as long as I can remember, and I would always tag along with him to various buildings and projects.”

While every industry taught him something different, Leone found himself consistently drawn toward more technically demanding spaces. “I always found myself leaning toward manufacturing and life science facilities,” he says. “The environments that had a little bit more teeth to them.”

When he discovered an opportunity at Monell, he began researching the organization and its mission. The more he learned, the more certain he became that it was where he wanted to be.

“After I interviewed and did my first walkthrough, I knew that I had to be here,” he says.

Sensory research at Monell advances our understanding of taste, smell, and related senses, impacting areas as wide-ranging as obesity nutrition, and early disease detection. These sensory systems are deeply connected to quality of life, memory, health, and safety.

For Leone, understanding the organization’s broader impact makes the work even more meaningful. “When you invest in Monell, you’re investing not only in Monell’s mission, but also in the development of life science worldwide.”

That challenge becomes especially critical in smell and taste research. Many Monell laboratories work with highly specific odors and chemical compounds that must remain fully contained.

“If odors leak into the building or into another study space, it could be very detrimental to a project,” Leone says.

Certain specialty labs require even more advanced environmental controls. Monell’s controlled environment rooms for human testing, for example, are designed to safely contain odor exposure studies and rapidly purge the air between study participant sessions so no residual scents remain behind.

“These rooms stay at a constant negative pressure relative to the rest of the building,” Leone explains. “That prevents contamination from leaking out, while allowing the room to be quickly cleared between studies.”
Behind every successful experiment is a carefully engineered environment that most people never notice.

“Our goal is to do our work so seamlessly that the scientists never truly understand what’s happening behind the scenes,” he says. “They should be able to come in to work and trust that the building will be there for them.”

One of the aspects Leone values most about working at Monell is the people.

“You get to know everybody,” he says. “PIs, technicians, postdocs, administrative employees; it’s not difficult to meet everyone in the building.”

The collaborative environment brings together people from different cultures, countries, and scientific backgrounds, all united by a shared mission of improving health and well-being through sensory research.

“It all blends together into a really great place to work,” Leone says.

That sense of purpose is amplified by Monell’s identity as an independent nonprofit organization.

“I’m proud to work for an organization that has remained independent,” he says. “And I’m proud to work for an organization that is committed to being a nonprofit in a world where we’re trying to make it a safer place.”
While researchers at Monell continue advancing the science of smell and taste, Leone and his team ensure the environment around them remains safe, reliable, and ready for discovery.

Their work may happen behind the scenes, but its impact is felt throughout every lab, every study, and every breakthrough.

At organizations like Monell, scientific progress depends not only on the brilliance of researchers, but also on the people who quietly make that work possible every single day.