CHEMOSENSORY CLINICAL RESEARCH

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The Monell-Jefferson Chemosensory Clinical Research Center (CCRC) involves a collaboration between scientists at the Monell Chemical Senses Center and physicians at Thomas Jefferson University. Collaborative projects also exist with physicians at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, Wills Eye Hospital and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center of Philadelphia. The CCRC is devoted to the scientific examination of clinical disorders in taste and smell, as well as to basic research in the chemical senses. Through the multidisciplinary study of clinical populations, CCRC scientists expect to characterize and understand the etiologies of disorders in chemosensory function, provide information on mechanisms and functions of the chemical senses in humans, and develop strategies for treating/coping with chemosensory disorders. The proposed renewal of the CCRC will comprise an Administrative Core unit, a Sensory Core unit (which oversees the evaluation of referred patients with primary complaints of chemosensory disorders), and five individual research projects. The general aims of the CCRC will be: 1) to continue to provide a clinic facility for the evaluation of chemosensory disorders and the study of their etiologies and prognoses, with a specific focus on distortion syndromes (dysosmia and dysgeusia); 2) to study normal and abnormal human olfactory function at the cellular and molecular levels, applying sensitive electrophysiological, biophysical and molecular biological techniques to human olfactory biopsy material; 3) to identify non-invasive indices for salt sensitivity and to develop effective dietary intervention strategies for individuals at risk for hypertension; 4) to initiate studies of the nature and physiological bases of drug-related taste dysfunction, with focus on disturbances in oral sensory perception associated with the use of carbonic anhydrase inhibitors; 5) to continue to explore the functional characteristic of, and individual variations in, nasal trigeminal stimulation in both normosmic and anosmic individuals; and 6) to evaluate the relationships between the metabolic disorder trimethylaminuria and chemosensation, examine the biochemical basis of this disorder and explore the molecular genetics of the biochemical defect.