We’re particularly excited to welcome our guest speakers, who will be delivering the following talks:

Developing therapeutics for olfactory loss. 
Dr Wynne, is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of the pharmaceutical company Rhino Therapeutics, and a Fifth Sense advisory board member. He will be sharing Rhino’s mission to develop transformative regenerative therapies for people living with age-related olfactory loss and the company’s plans to develop therapies to treat olfactory loss. 

Making smell and taste testing a health care standard. 
Dr Munger, Ph.D. is Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University of Florida (UF), director of the UF Center for Smell and Taste, and a Fifth Sense advisory board member.  His research program has long focused on understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms that allow humans and other animals to detect and respond to smells and tastes. He will be talking about a new project the Center is undertaking to understand how smell function varies over time and under different conditions, a key step in making smell and taste testing a standard part of healthcare.

From scents to sensing health: olfactory loss as an indicator of unhealthy aging and the importance of olfactory assessments in older adults.  
Dr. Rowan, M.D. is associate professor at John Hopkins University. He will be joining us virtually to share his research into the role of the sense of smell in ageing. He will provide an overview of olfaction, how it works, and how this unique sensory function potentially changes in older adults. This will be followed by a discussion of the important associations with reduced olfactory function in older adults and why both formal assessments and the treatment of olfactory dysfunction in older adults is a critical mission in on our increasingly aged population.

The importance of the sense of smell for healthspan, lifespan, and overall quality of life. 
Dr Herz, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist and world leading expert on the psychological science of smell, author of The Scent of Desire and a Fifth Sense advisory board member. She will be joining us virtually to talk about how fundamental the sense of smell is to our wellbeing and quality of life. She will focus on how sense of smell is critical to the experience of flavor and enjoyment of food, and integrally involved in our mental and physical health, emotional vividness, social relationships, cognitive abilities, and sense of self.

Fifth Sense Research Hub update. 
Prof Philpott is Professor of Rhinology and Olfactology at the University of East Anglia, a Fifth Sense trustee and our Director of Research and Medical Affairs. He will be updating us on the Fifth Sense Research Hub and introducing some of the projects we are involved in, including a report on the i-Smell project, which involves people trialing a digital smell training device in their homes.