Hello, Reddit! I’m Steven Munger and I’m fascinated by how animals, including humans make sense of the chemosensory world…everything from how smell and taste influence which foods we choose to eat, to the influence of odors of social interactions between individuals, to the impact of smell or taste loss on our health and quality of life. A bit of information on me: I’m a Professor and Vice-Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics and the Director of the Center for Smell and Taste at the University of Florida. I received a BA in Biology from the University of Virginia (1989) and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Florida (1997). I completed postdoctoral training in molecular biology at Johns Hopkins University before joining the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 2000, where I remained until joining UF in 2014. My lab focuses on understanding the molecular and cellular machinery used to detect odors, tastes and other chemicals in foods and pharmaceuticals. But I am looking forward to questions on any aspect of smell or taste! I’ll be back at 1 pm EDT (10 am PDT, 6 pm UTC) to answer your questions, so ask me anything! ***Hello, everyone. I am glad to be back this year for another AMA about smell and taste. I’ll be online for a couple of hours this afternoon, and then will try to get back to answer some more questions later this evening. I’m happy to try to answer questions about all aspects of smell, taste or chemesthesis (the chemical sense that allows us to detect chemicals in herbs and spices that evoke a sense of temperature, irritation, pain or vibration). And questions don’t have to be limited to humans, either….smell and taste are important senses for all sorts of vertebrate and invertebrate animals. I did want to take this opportunity to mention that we recently announced the launch of the UF Health Smell Disorders Program, which will provide patient care, education and support for those with smell impairments as well as focus research on anosmia and related disorders. For more information, you can visit http://smellclinic.cst.ufl.edu or ask here. And with that…let’s get started! ***I am going to have to leave in a few minutes (I will try to get back to answer the remaining questions later), but wanted to make sure to add a few important points: –As you see from my bio, I am a scientist, not a physician. If you think you have a smell or taste disorder, you may want to visit an otolaryngologist or other physician with experience diagnosing these disorders. –For more information about smell disorders, visit http://smellclinic.cst.ufl.edu. This website contains, among other things, a list other organizations that may provide you with useful information about smell and taste. For example, the UK-based charity Fifth Sense (http://fifthsense.org.uk) has a number of resources for those with smell disorders. They are also holding a members meeting in Leeds, UK, next month. This can be a good way for those with a smell or taste disorder to learn more and to connect with others with similar experiences. UF and Fifth Sense will also be partnering for SmellTaste2019, a patient focused conference to take place in Florida in early 2019. ***OK, I actually was able to answer everyone’s questions. If you have more about smell or taste, you should look at my two past AMAs on the subject. Thanks for your interest, and good night!