UF Center for Smell and Taste
New University Center Fosters Research in the Chemical Senses
This article was originally printed in the December 1999 issue of CLASnotes.
Understanding the allure of Chanel #5 and the appeal of strawberry pie may become a reality in the future with the advent of the new University of Florida Center for Smell and Taste (UFCST), which was approved as a Class II Center by the Chancellor's Office during the last year. Dr. Barry Ache, Distinguished Professor of Zoology and Neuroscience, from the Whitney laboratory is director, and Dr. Alan Spector, Professor of Psychology, is assistant director of the center. The center, administratively based in the Office of the Vice President for Research, is located in the University of Florida Brain Institute (UFBI). The center is counseled by a campus advisory committee chaired by Dr. William Luttge, director of the UFBI, and a scientific advisory committee composed of external scientists representing basic, clinical and applied chemosensory research.
Scientists doing research related to the chemical senses are scattered across the broadest organizational units of the University, including the colleges of Dentistry, Liberal Arts & Sciences, and Medicine, as well as IFAS, the USDA, and the Whitney Laboratory. Their academic activities range from performing endoscopic surgery for chronic sinusitis and nasal polyposis, to studying how early exposure to salt affects food intake and taste sensitivity, to using artificial noses in quality control, to deciphering the chemistry of insect sex attractants. The UFCST provides an important forum to integrate this academically diverse group. In addition to providing a forum for the university's diverse chemical senses research community, the center's mission includes enhancing the visibility of chemical senses research at UF by bringing in outside experts for seminars, seeking programmatic funding for chemical senses research from governmental sources such as the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, developing closer ties between UF and the flavor and fragrance industry, and fostering increased graduate student education by creating a training program in the chemical senses.
Faculty with an interest in the chemical senses who are not already members are encouraged to join the UFCST in its mission to foster chemosensory research at the University of Florida. Everyone is encouraged to attend center activities and functions, especially the new seminar series featuring lectures from internationally renowned chemical senses researchers. To obtain more information on the center and its activities, contact Dr. Barry Ache <bwa@whitney.ufl.edu>, or visit or call the center's office in Room L5-100D in the Brain Institute (294-0199).
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Alan Spector, Psychology
