Registration Open for First-of-its-Kind Conference to Establish Routine Smell and Taste Testing

Newswise — PHILADELPHIA (October 23, 2023) – Registration is open for a visionary conference titled, “Towards Universal Chemosensory Testing.”  The Monell Chemical Senses Center, with colleagues from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), The Ohio State University, and the University of Florida, organized this conference with the overarching goal to involve multiple stakeholders to develop strategies for implementing routine chemosensory testing – smell, taste, and related senses – across the lifespan as a part of healthcare in the United States. The hybrid event takes place on November 5 – 7, 2023 in Philadelphia, bringing together scientists, clinicians, public health officials, patients, healthcare industry professionals, and others to identify opportunities and challenges to institute routine chemosensory testing.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has brought smell and taste dysfunction to the attention of the world,” said conference lead organizer, Valentina Parma, PhD, Monell Assistant Director and Assistant Member. “Despite the significant role of these senses in signaling disease, as well as safety, emotional connection, and quality of life, the diagnosis of chemosensory disorders is far from accessible for most patients or routinely implemented by most healthcare providers.” Parma is joined by conference co-organizers Mark Albers, MD, PhD, MGH; Steven Munger, PhD, University of Florida; and Kai Zhao, PhD, Ohio State, who are all recipients of a previous National Institutes of Health RADx℠ Radical initiative funding to develop chemosensory testing for COVID-19.

The pandemic is leaving millions of people with persistent smell and taste disorders, increasing the number of those who experience disrupted connections with their surroundings, including family and friends, food, and the environment. In addition to the significant reduction in positive mood and quality of life that smell and taste disorders bring, loss of taste and smell can be an early harbinger of several health concerns, including other types of infections and neurodegenerative diseases.

The conference program will:

• Share state-of-the-art methods in chemosensory testing,
• Identify benefits and practices of chemosensory screening for individuals and at the population level, 
• Communicate shared information with medical associations, health care professionals, academic institutions, governmental agencies, insurance companies, industry, and the general public,
• Increase the proportion of adults with smell or taste disorders who discuss the problem with a healthcare provider,
• Culminate with a peer-reviewed consensus paper on universal chemosensory testing detailing the rationale and recommendations that emerge from discussions.

The availability of universal chemosensory testing could significantly improve health care experiences, health outcomes, and quality of life for patients, as well as reduce the economic burden of chemosensory dysfunction and its consequences. 

The conference is book-ended by two patient-focused events for caregivers, patients, clinicians, scientists, and policymakers to share information and create stronger connections among stakeholders. Bringing the relevant medical disciplines and practices together – primary care practitioners, nurses, otolaryngologists, chemosensory scientists, patients, insurance executives, and public health professionals – will help proposed strategies emerging from the conference become clinical realities.

For more information on the NIH-funded scientific presentations, patient-focused programming, and to register, please visit https://smellandtastetestingforall.monell.org/register/. 

Media, please contact Karen Kreeger, at [email protected], to register. 

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