Monell Center joins with CAS to host Beijing meeting on taste and smell research

First international meeting on taste and smell to be held in China

PHILADELPHIA (November 06, 2009) – The Monell Center and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) are co-hosts of the Beijing International Meeting on Taste and Smell Research. Organized by Monell in collaboration with the CAS, the meeting will be the first international meeting on taste and smell to be held in China.

Alan Leshner, Chief Executive Officer, American Association for the Advancement of Science and Executive Publisher of Science magazine, will open the meeting with a plenary address entitled "The Globalization of Science."

The historic meeting, to be held at the Beijing Marriott Hotel City Wall on November 15-17, represents an effort by Monell to strengthen ties between Chinese scientists and the international chemosensory research community. Monell, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the world's leading research institute dedicated to basic research on taste and smell.

According to Gary Beauchamp, Director and President of the Monell Center, a central goal of the meeting is to explore potential collaborations on taste and smell research that can address global concerns related to human health, disease, agriculture, and environmental protection.

Over 150 scientists from around the world will present and discuss recent advances in taste, olfaction and sensory irritation, including sessions on clinical research in the chemical senses; the molecular biology of taste and olfaction; insect chemoreception; taste, nutrition, and disease; pheromones; and neuroimaging insights into taste and smell.

The meeting will feature the latest findings on receptor, brain and behavioral mechanisms involved in taste and smell. Several sessions will highlight clinical research and the important relationship of these ancient senses to human health and disease. Other sessions will focus on pheromonal communication, including insect pheromones, a critical issue in global initiatives to reduce agricultural pests and preserve the food supply. Among the presentations: