UNIV OF PA CLINICAL SMELL & TASTE RESEARCH CENTER

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This application is a request for continued support of the University of Pennsylvania Clinical Smell and Taste Research Center, the first Clinical Research Center in the United States devoted solely to the study of the chemical senses. This Center provides the resources and scientific focus for interdisciplinary clinical and fundamental research related to the understanding, diagnosis, treatment and management of patients with olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions. Data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey suggest that, for 1975 and 1976 combined, 435,000 visits to physicians' offices occurred in which a major presenting complaint was chemosensory in nature, and our Center is one of the few national institutions devoted to understanding and treating patients with these problems. The primary administrative offices and diagnostic facilities of the center are located within the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Center laboratories are located within the Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine, as well as in the Veterans Administration Medical Center of Philadelphia. The new Core Facility of the Center, in which the Center's controlled environment room and human air-dilution olfactometer are located, serves as the primary location for the Center's human studies, and is positioned directly adjacent to the clinical facilities of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Human Communication, the Department of Neurosurgery, the Department of Dental Medicine, and the Speech and Hearing Center. This prime location fosters direct interactions between our Center and these and other departments within the Hospital. The Center has now established a computer-based registry of patients studied in our facility (based upon clinical records, standardized intake interviews, and medical and sensory evaluations), providing a rich data base for the study of the etiology of chemosensory disorders, their natural history, clinical manifestations, and response to therapy. During the next five years, we plan to continue studies in our three major project areas (development of diagnostic tests; olfactory electrophysiology; glucoreception in diabetes), as well as to develop new projects in the areas of (a) the biochemistry and biophysics of taste, saliva, and secretory processes, (b) the pathophysiology of Xerostomia, and (c) the neuroendocrine modulation of olfactory sensitivity.