annualreport.2022.monell.org2021-2022 Annual Report - Monell Chemical Senses

Center Our Message Living Our Legacy Research Menu Toggle Attack the Loss of Taste & Smell Diagnose & Treat Diseases Improve Nutritional Health Digitize Smells & Tastes Partnerships Supporters People Menu Toggle Board of Directors International Advisory Council Faculty Administration Financials Download Download Our Message Living Our Legacy Research Menu Toggle Attack the Loss of Taste & Smell Diagnose & Treat Diseases Improve Nutritional Health Digitize Smells & Tastes Partnerships Supporters People Menu Toggle Board of Directors International Advisory Council Faculty Financials DownloadOur Message Living Our Legacy Research Menu Toggle Attack the Loss of Taste & Smell Diagnose & Treat Diseases Improve Nutritional Health Digitize Smells & Tastes Partnerships Supporters People Menu Toggle Board of Directors International Advisory Council Faculty Financials Download 2021 | 2022 Annual Report 2021 | 2022 Annual Report Bringing Legacy to Life We all have been living in transformative times —for world health and for the Monell Chemical Senses Center. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Monell’s researchers have worked at the forefront of the global effort to understand the link between COVID-19 infection and loss of smell and taste. We are making numerous important and enduring contributions to the field and to public health efforts. Collectively, the world’s research and clinical communities have learned so much. At Monell we are urgently advancing new discoveries and translating them to improve our lives. This year brought a deeper understanding of taste and smell dysfunction in COVID that will enable practice-changing advances in health care. SCENTinel, Monell’s rapid screening tool for new-onset loss of smell has moved into the field as the centerpiece of a new campaign for universal smell testing. Because this sense is so integral to human health and well-being, our goal is to make smell testing a routine medical practice, available in every doctor’s office, perhaps even as part of your annual physical exam. Identifying smell disorders earlier in their course could allow for new treatment approaches that better support patients. Other research underway at Monell may bring us new bitter-blocking formulations so children infected with HIV will find it easier to take their life-saving medicines. Our discovery of biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease could lead to developing a simple diagnostic test for earlier detection and treatment before motor impairments begin – a potential game-changer for patients. And new information about how we individually sense sweet” in our mouths may help us develop healthier beverages and foods. Please read the sections on our four research aims to learn more about these initiatives and many others. This year also marks a transition in leadership as Robert F. Margolskee, MD, PhD, stepped down as Director and President, a role he has held since 2014. Under his leadership, Monell surpassed its 50 th Anniversary Sensing the Future capital campaign goals and embarked on an ambitious strategic plan to ensure the Center’s primacy in chemosensory science for years to come. Monell Vice President Nancy E. Rawson, PhD, who returned to Monell in 2016 to lead the Corporate Partners Program, is now Acting Director and President. Today at Monell we are Bringing Our Legacy to Life, with new discoveries in taste, smell, and related senses that will transform global health and well-being. Most importantly, our progress toward a healthier future is only possible with the strong support of you – our donors, partners, and collaborators. Thank you for being part of our enterprise. Nancy E. Rawson, PhD Acting Director and President Robert F. Margolskee, MD, PhD Past Director and President David Macnair, PhD Chair of the Board Richard L. Berkman, Esq Vice Chair of the Board Morley Kare founded Monell as a bold experiment in collaborating freely and richly across scientific disciplines and embracing innovative partnerships with academia and industry to advance understanding of taste, smell, and related senses. In 1967, The Ambrose Monell Foundation made an equally bold founding investment to create the Monell Chemical Senses Center. The result is a legacy of superlative chemosensory science and innovation that continues to transform world health care practices. Fifty-five years later, through collaboration and philanthropy, Monell’s basic discoveries are enriching health outcomes in ways no one could have imagined at the time. PROPELLING MONELL INTO ITS NEXT HALF-CENTURY In January the Monell Foundation awarded the Center a transformative grant of up to $26 million, securing its position as the world’s premier independent basic research institute for taste, smell, and related senses. As the largest single donation in Monell’s history, the funds would be disbursed in grants of $5.2 million per year over five years, upon the achievement of certain milestones. In a very real sense, the Monell Foundation grant is a testament not only to the Center’s achievements, but to the philanthropy that enables and inspires it. Coupled with the generosity of loyal donors and corporate partners, the Foundation’s investment will support Monell’s strategic plan to ensure the Center’s primacy in chemosensory research. This is a visionary roadmap for the future that prioritizes four strategic research aims, enhances its research environment, and expands and diversifies its expertise through recruiting and nurturing its next generation of scientists. With this grant we intend to plant the seeds for the Center’s success for the next 55 years and await the Center’s continued contributions to the world of sensory science.” Ambrose K. Monell President and Director, The Monell Foundation New Opportunities for Academic Excellence Part of discovery means training future scientific leaders, immersing them in Monell’s collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to chemosensory science. This has been a core principle since Monell’s founding and is fundamental to its success. To advance Monell’s strategic research aims by facilitating opportunities for academic excellence, the Center has created a new Office of Academic Affairs under the leadership of Valentina Parma, PhD, Monell Assistant Director and Assistant Member. The new office coordinates the activities of the nationally recognized Monell Science Apprenticeship Program (MSAP), which fosters an interest in careers in biomedical science or medicine among high school students from groups typically underrepresented in science; Monell’s Postdoctoral Advisory Committee; and its science seminar series and journal club. It also advances Monell’s formal academic partnerships and works to expand national and international trainee exchange programs. The Office of Academic Affairs has set ambitious goals for expanding Monell’s mentorship model, increasing diversity among its trainees, stimulating academic excellence through academic outreach, and growing its academic partnerships, all with the aim of improving health and well-being through the science of the chemical senses. Our Research Aims Monell’s interdisciplinary chemosensory science integrates four research aims: disease prevention; diagnosis and treatment; sensory nutrition; regeneration of the senses; and digitization of taste and smell. Our goal is to accelerate the translation of basic science on taste and smell into real improvements in human health and well-being. Bringing Legacy to Life Our Research Tackling the loss of smell and taste through COVID-19 and beyond Peihua Jiang, PhD, left , Ichiro Matsumoto, PhD Bringing Legacy to Life Our Research Tackling the loss of smell and taste through COVID-19 and beyond Peihua Jiang, PhD, left, Ichiro Matsumoto, PhD With sudden loss of smell and taste as hallmark symptoms of COVID-19 infection, Monell has led the global effort to understand the link between COVID-19 infection and sudden sensory loss. Now, as the COVID pandemic...