Fragrance Forum
The annual gathering of global leaders, creatives and experts in fragrance, olfaction and neuroscience, hosted by the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) UK.
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Royal Institution, London | 20th October 2021
Highlights of the event can be found below.
IFRA UK Fragrance Forum 2022
Results from the National Smell Survey were revealed at this event. IFRA UK teamed up with YouGov to explore what the public’s perception of smell was, how smells connect with our memory and emotions, whether peoples’ sense of smell changed over time and what our favourite smells were.
Awareness of anosmia (loss of smell) has become more prevalent in recent years given its links with Covid-19. This year’s Fragrance Forum delved even deeper into the world of olfaction, exploring what people thought about their sense of smell, the role it plays in everyday life and the impact it has on all of us – whether good or bad.
Professor Barry C Smith
Director of the Institute of Philosophy at the Centre for the Study of the Senses
New research by Simon and colleagues has identified a highly potent odour molecule that appears to be a trigger for the sense of ‘disgust’ experienced by patients with parosmia (changed sense of smell). Simon’s session will go into more detail about this study and why the findings are important.
This year's line-up of experts included:
Katherine Whitcroft
ENT Surgeon, Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital and University College London (UCL)
Exploring how clinicians test a patients’ sense of smell and how different patients perceive these assessments. Katherine will share the best techniques for this and will discuss how patients and science can be brought together. Looking to the future, Katherine will also look at targeted smell testing.
Simon Gane
Consultant Surgeon, Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital and UCL
New research by Simon and colleagues has identified a highly potent odour molecule that appears to be a trigger for the sense of ‘disgust’ experienced by patients with parosmia (changed sense of smell). Simon’s session will go into more detail about this study and why the findings are important.
Johan Lundström
Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
In an attempt to answer ‘why do humans have noses?’, Johan’s session will investigate how odour pleasantness is processed by the brain, what the cultural impact of this is and how smelling both pleasant and unpleasant odours can impact our behaviour in an unconscious way.
Professor Stuart Firestein
Department of Biological Sciences, Colombia University
For the final session, Professor Firestein was in conversation with Lisa Hipgrave, Director of IFRA-UK. Together they discussed how the nose processes smell, from both a neuroscience and perfumer’s perspective.
At the end of the day, a panel session was held with speakers.
Lisa Hipgrave, Director of IFRA UK, concludes the day.