UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

CENTER FOR SMELL AND TASTE

Our Mission

The University of Florida Center for Smell and Taste was established October 1, 1998 to provide a forum to coordinate and promote basic and applied research and education in the chemical senses at the University of Florida. The chemical senses is a recognized field of academic endeavor that inherently encompasses a wide variety of disciplines and transcends traditional academic boundaries, making fostering research and training in the chemical senses an especially appropriate mission for a Center.

The Center presently integrates the activities of 55 faculty together with their postdoctoral associates and graduate students from 22 different departments spanning 6 different Colleges, the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, the US Department of Agriculture at UF, and the US Veteran’s Administration at UF. Through integrating the broad expertise at the University of Florida relevant to chemical senses research, the Center is positioned to make a unique contribution to the field, to the University, to Florida industry (citrus-derived chemicals are a major source of revenue for the flavor and fragrance industry), and to the health of Florida’s citizens.

The Center reports fiscally to the Provost and administratively to the Vice President for Research. This organizational structure positions the Center to optimally address a field of endeavor that spans the traditional organizational units of the University. The Center is affiliated with the McKnight Brain Institute, which provides the physical home for the Center.

A new multidisciplinary approach to research in the chemical senses...

Modern scientific discovery is being led by integrating concepts and technologies from diverse disciplines. The University of Florida - with its diverse academic expertise, including its health sciences faculty, on a single, integral campus - is especially well positioned to ride this wave of progress. Fostering multidisciplinary research is among the cornerstones of President Machen's plan to elevate the University into the top tier of public universities. By integrating the University's broad scientific knowledge to address questions in the chemical senses, the Center is pioneering an exciting new approach to understanding how we smell and taste.