I am a lay person and I cannot provide detail on study design. However, I am aware that there are millions of individuals world-wide who suffer from loss of smell (anosmia) and who feel socially isolated and fearful of dangers that the olfactory system helps to warn against. In addition, many people who are anosmic do not enjoy eating and are therefore not necessarily getting a nutritionally balanced diet. This could... more »

Exome sequencing of self-identified viral anosmics vs congenital anosmics vs healthy match controls to identify candidate genes related to susceptability

Anosmia, the loss of smell, affects approximately 5% of the population and can blight the lives of sufferers. The consequences to well being of those with this condition can be severe and include depression, anxiety, aggression, feelings of isolation as well as weight gain/weight loss. Within this group are people with parosmia, a condition where odors are so distorted that food becomes a nauseating ordeal. We need more... more »

From www.monell.org:

Monell’s initial targeted anosmia research project takes advantage of 1) the unique ability of olfactory receptor cells to regenerate from specialized stem cells across a person’s lifetime, and 2) Monell’s pioneering development of biopsy techniques that enable us to harvest and study living human olfactory tissue.

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research and restore smelling loss

Create a protocol and PT to retrain the brain and nose on how to smell.

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Not only does complete loss of smell and taste ("anosmia") affect quality of life , but this condition also creates safety concerns - unable to smell during food prep, unable to detect spoiled food, unable to detect harmful fumes and the list goes on.

A good estimate could be based on a simple survey of health care providers (ENT or internist) as to the frequency of patients who exhibit this important disability. Depending on the results, more resources might be devoted to finding causes and ultimately treatments.

Collaborate with Monell to understand what specifically causes birth defects resulting in anosmia and then understand what to do to cure it.

The goals of anosmia research should be to help those who have suddenly lost their sense of smell to regain it. Scientists need to know more about olfactory nerves, their connections, their regeneration, how nerves can be rerouted, etc.

My goal would be to find a breakthrough in the treatment of anosmia in cases where anosmia was caused by head trauma. The use of stem cells, or other technology, should be determined if olfactory nerves can be regrown in an effort to restore the sense of smell. The side effects of head trauma induced anosmia is phantosmia, which are "phantom smells" or olfactory hallucinations. Another goal would be to eliminate phantosmia... more »

Questionnaire-based study comparing congenitally-anosmic mothers and offspring with matched controls measuring parental and child attachment, involvement, social, emotional and psychological adjustment, stress, etc

We are all at risk of losing our sense of smell -- from upper respiratory infection, head injury, to simple aging. Those with anosmia/hyposmia have nutritional imbalances because the sensory aspects of food intake are reduced. Anosmics report anxiety and danger from food poisoning, fire, gas, and other environmental threats detected by the sense of smell. Over 10 million Americans experience loss of smell and we as a... more »