DEVELOPMENT OF AN RTC FOR TASTE AND SMELL

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The Monell Chemical Senses Center is seeking exploratory funds to plan for full development of a National Multi-Purpose Research and Training Center for taste and smell. Many of the features of an RTC as envisioned by NIH are already in place at Monell. The exploratory grant will be used to develop programs to strengthen and integrate aspects of Monell's activities to enable it to readily assume the functions of an effective RTC. In basic and clinical research, exploratory funds will be used to initiate feasibility studies of the biochemistry of human olfactory and taste receptor cells. This will provide a needed bridge between Monell's expertise in cellular mechanisms of chemoreception and clinical research on taste and smell. The focus of research training will be expanded for three groups in particular: senior-level scientists/clinicians, post-secondary community college students, and high school students. Using a multidisciplinary approach, strengthened recruitment and training directed toward these groups will have significant potential for contributions to chemosensory research. Exploratory funds will be used to develop a long-needed continuing medical education package for improving awareness and understanding of the chemical senses and their disorders. This will include assessment of the extent and nature of the need for a CME course on the chemical senses, development of a prototype program, and production and evaluation of the program. There is widespread interest in more information about taste and smell from both the general public and the professional community. Exploratory funds will be used to develop vehicles to inform a variety of audiences about the chemical senses, their disorders, potential treatment, and resources available for evaluation. A pilot project to develop and test a brochure targeted to the elderly also will be carried out, in order to provide a model for subsequent implementation of other information dissemination products. An additional activity will be to explore the feasibility of an epidemiological evaluation of chemosensory disorders.