Two AWIS-PHL members were highlighted in the Sept 2021 issue of The Monell Connection:

Dietary guidelines advise that children under the age of two do not consume any added sugars. How are these measures informed by research and by different food preferences? At the Menella Lab, Nutritional Scientist and Registered Dietitian Dr. Alissa Smethers has been looking for answers by investigating dietary habits involving children’s added sugar intake. Her research aims at understanding how activity of the chemical senses, such as sweet taste, can influence food preferences and lead to excessive intakes.

What makes us perceive smells the way we do? And can we teach a computer to describe what different odors smell like? Dr. Emily Mayhew tells us how her background in food science and chemosensory research led her to address these questions. Her work with computers, chemicals, and people is helping the Mainland Lab build models that predict what molecules and their mixtures may smell like.