We know that taste and smell provide us with sensory pleasures. But these senses can do so much more! Discover The Wonders of Taste and Smell in a virtual panel on World Taste & Smell Day, September 14 at Noon (EST) with featured guests: 

• Mandy Aftel, Natural Essence Expert, Writer, and Perfume Historian 

• Jeanette Andrews, Scent Illusionist 

• Dr. Oghogho Braimah, Award-Winning ENT & Neck Surgeon 

• Dr. Joel Mainland, Member,  Monell Chemical Senses Center and Digital Olfaction Pioneer 

• Dr. Barry Smith, Philosopher and Sensory Expert

• Dr. Tian Yu, Director of Sensory at Aigora

The event is on September 14 at Noon (EST) and is free with advance registration.

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About our Panelists:

• Mandy Aftel, Natural Essence Expert, Writer, and Perfume Historian 

Natural perfumer and educator Mandy Aftel is the founder of Aftelier Perfumes and creator of the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents in Berkeley, California -- the only museum in the world dedicated to the history and experience of natural fragrance. She is the author of five books on natural fragrance and flavor, including Essence and Alchemy, Fragrant, Scents and Sensibilities, Aroma, and The Art of Flavor. Mandy was awarded the Septimus Piesse Visionary Award by the Institute for Art and Olfaction for her life’s work.

• Jeanette Andrews, Scent Illusionist, MAGICIAN, ARTIST & SPEAKER

Jeanette Andrews is hailed as one of the most innovative illusionists in the world today and has staged hundreds of sold-out and standing-room-only performances for Fortune 500 companies, theaters and universities including Infiniti, Kraft, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Lyric Opera & Chicago Ideas Week. She has presented commissioned and site-specific works for The Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt, the International Museum of Surgical Science, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

​Andrews presented her first magic performance at age four, was paid to do her first magic show at age six, began running her business that day and has never had another job since, and is now internationally recognized as a pioneer in her field. Andrews uses sensory anomalies, art and scientific anecdotes to create luxurious experiences that bridge everyday life to a special, heightened world. She loves creating experiences for audiences to engage with the impossible in fun, insightful, generous ways. 

Andrews is an Affiliate of Harvard’s metaLAB and prior artist in residence for High Concept Labs and The Institute for Art and Olfaction. Illusion is Ms. Andrews’ life’s work and her performances have been praised by the Chicago Tribune, PBS and the New York Times. 

• Dr. Oghogho Braimah, Award-Winning ENT & Neck Surgeon

Dr. Oghogho Braimah is  a clinician and academic with a keen interest in smell disorders who works at the intersection of Otolaryngology, Health Technology, Surgical Education and Public Health (GlobalSurgery). Her career focus is to improve access to healthcare by developing and implementing low-cost pathways for early diagnosis and treatment with the hope of improving preventative care and/or therapeutic outcomes especially in resource constrained settings. Dr. Braimah is a member of the Leadership Team of the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research and her clinical practice is currently based in Benin City,  Nigeria.

• Joel Mainland, Scientist and Digital Olfaction Pioneer 

Dr. Joel Mainland earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UC Berkeley, where he studied the effects of sniffing on olfactory perception. He then worked at Duke University where he studied the molecular biology of human olfactory receptors. Dr. Mainland is now a Member at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, where his laboratory examines how to bring odors into our digital world.

• Barry Smith, Dr. Barry Smith, Philosopher and Sensory Expert 

Professor Barry C Smith is director of the Institute of Philosophy at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study and the founding director of its Centre for the Study of the Senses, which pioneers collaborative research links between philosophers, psychologists and neuroscientists. Barry works on the multisensory nature of perceptual experience, taste, smell and flavour, publishing theoretical and experimental papers, in Nature, Food Quality and Preference, Chemical Senses and Flavour and is the editor of Questions of Taste: the philosophy of wine (Oxford University Press). He collaborates with chefs, artists, perfumers and consults for the food and drinks industry. He is a regular broadcaster whose recent radio series for the BBC is on the Art and Science of Blending. For seven years he was the wine columnist for Prospect Magazine.

• Tian Yu,  Director of Sensory at Aigora

Dr. Tian Yu obtained her Ph.D. in neuroscience, focusing on fat and sour taste signal transduction. After a postdoctoral fellowship researching lipid metabolism, Dr. Yu devotes herself to sensory and consumer science research to combine her love of sensory neuroscience and expertise in data science as a Computational Sensory Scientist. Now she is the Directory of Sensory at Aigora,  a technology company that helps sensory and consumer teams to implement artificial intelligence.