26 Jul Monell Chemical Senses Center Names New Members to Its Board of Directors and International Advisory Council

Posted at 10:27h in News, Press Releases by

For immediate release
Contact: Staci Vernick, svernick@monell.org

PHILADELPHIA, PA (July 26, 2024) – The Monell Chemical Senses Center, a global leader in advancing the scientific understanding of taste, smell, and related senses, today announced the election of Donald Wilkes and Edmund Pribitkin, MD, MBA, to its board of directors, and Mark H. Schutta, MD, and Denny Brooks, PhD, to its International Advisory Council (IAC).

Donald Wilkes is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Pacific Flavors, Inc., which he founded over 30 years ago. Based in California, Blue Pacific is a unique “farm-to-flavor” manufacturer of USDA certified organic and natural flavors, extracts, and ingredient solutions. The company offers innovative capabilities in flavor and product applications to a diverse range of industries including beverage, dairy, bakery, confectionery, cereal, and nutritional supplements. In addition to his role at Blue Pacific, Wilkes serves as the CEO of Wilkes and Associates, Inc., a leading food technology licensing consulting firm focused in Asia. An internationally recognized leader in the flavor industry, Wilkes is a past President of the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA) and has previously served on the FEMA Board. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the International Organization of the Flavor Industry (IOFI). Wilkes holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Parsons School of Design.

Edmund Pribitkin, MD, MBA, is the Chief Physician Executive and Executive Vice President of Jefferson Health, President of the Jefferson Medical Group, and Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery in the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. A widely published researcher and educator, Dr. Pribitkin is a senior healthcare executive with more than 25 years of academic leadership experience developing innovative health care delivery strategies focused on patient safety and quality. A specialist in thyroid, parathyroid and rhinoplasty surgery, he is consistently recognized as a Top Doc by Philadelphia magazine. Dr. Pribitkin has actively served on Monell’s IAC since 2021 and was co-principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health-funded Monell-Jefferson Clinical Center for Chemosensory Dysfunction. Dr. Pribitkin earned his bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and his MBA from The Wharton School.

Mark Schutta is the G. Clayton Kyle Professor in Diabetes and Medical Director of the Penn Rodebaugh Diabetes Center, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He is an expert in diabetes and abnormal glucose metabolism who is widely published in the academic literature and who has been repeatedly recognized by America’s Top Doctors and in Philadelphia magazine’s annual Top Docs issues. Dr. Schutta earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, his M.D. from Jefferson Medical College, and he completed his residency training at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Denny Brooks is Vice President, Commercial Science, for Diageo, North America. In this role, he leads the basic science team for the global leader in beverage alcohol with brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Ketel One, and many others. Brooks previously held similar research and development positions with Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Kraft General Foods, and General Foods Corporation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, a PhD in developmental biology, and served as a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Molecular Science, all at Case Western Reserve University.

All four bring valued expertise that will guide Monell in expanding its research directions and connecting the chemical senses to new fields of science to help solve the world’s health, societal, and environmental challenges.

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The Monell Chemical Senses Center is an independent nonprofit research institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Monell was founded in 1968, and its mission is to improve health and well-being by advancing the scientific understanding of taste, smell, and related senses. Our discoveries lead to improving nutritional health, diagnosing and treating disease, addressing smell and taste loss, and digitizing chemosensory data.