Sensory Science and Chronic Diseases: Clinical Implications and Disease Management

The textbook provides an overview of the sensory science field in the context of diseases such as obesity and Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This book brings a summary of the state of the science in key areas and provides examples of translational science from using cellular and rodent models to human clinical trials and community health. The volume structure leads the reader through the physiology of taste and smell into how sensory testing for taste and smell is studied, basic mechanisms, various protocols that are used throughout the field along with the pros/cons of the current methods used. This resource is intended for classroom teaching, for novice researchers in sensory research as well as students and postdoctoral fellows. Example of courses are nutrition, basic nursing, interdisciplinary health courses, sensory perception (psychology), neuroscience, and medical courses, dentistry, food science and others.

About the Author

Valerie B. Duffy , PhD, RD is a Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in the Department of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Her research program has two main areas fueled by continuous extramural funding. First, her team aims to understand the influence of variation in chemosensory perception on food flavor, food preference, and consumption as well as on cigarette smoking behaviors. The ultimate goal of these research projects is to understand how chemosensory variation influences individuals' ability to follow healthy diets and healthy habits for chronic disease prevention. Her second major area of research interest involves the formation of interdisciplinary teams to work with community agencies to promote health diets and weights of children and their families, particularly those of economic disadvantage. These efforts incorporate undergraduate and graduate student research and investigate the effectiveness of community-based interventions to improve diet healthiness for obesity prevention. Dr. Duffy and her students have published over 80 peer-reviewed research papers, 22 book chapters, and over 180 conference proceeding at national and international meetings. She has received several awards for excellence in teaching, research, and service. Dr. Duffy’s research has been cited over 9,600 times (Google Scholar). Students who have trained in her lab are advancing health promotion through research, practice, and leadership. She has served as major advisor for 54 graduate students in the completion of their Masters or Doctoral work, and numerous undergraduates completing their honors and research experiences.