IFRA UK Fragrance Forum 2022, 20 October, London

Taking place on 20 October 2022, IFRA UK’s Fragrance Forum 2022, entitled ‘Scents of identity: how our sense of smell defines us’, will explore how our sense of smell defines us and the world around us.

IFRA UK has teamed up with YouGov for the National Smell Survey to explore what the public’s perception of smell is, how smells connect with our memory and emotions, whether peoples’ sense of smell has changed over time and what our favourite smells are.  The results will be revealed at the Forum.

Awareness of anosmia (loss of smell) has become more prevalent in recent years given its links with COVID 19, and the Forum will delve even deeper into the world of olfaction exploring what people think 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, will chair the event and will share some of the enlightening results from IFRA UK’s National Smell Survey.

Speaking at the Fragrance Forum are:

• Katherine Whitcroft: ENT Surgeon, Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital and University College London (UCL) who will explore how clinicians test a patients’ sense of smell and how different patients perceive these assessments.  Katherine will share the best techniques for this, discuss how patients and science can be brought together and will look to the future at targeted smell testing.
• Simon Gane: Consultant Surgeon, Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital and UCL will outline new research conducted by Simon and colleagues which 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).  The session will go into more detail about this study and why the findings are important.
• Johan Lundstrom: Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden will attempt to answer the question of ‘why do humans have noses?’.  The 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 will be in conversation with Lisa Hipgrave, Director of IFRA UK. Together they will discuss how the nose processes smell, from both a neuroscience and perfumer’s perspective.

Further information can be found on the IFRA UK website and tickets can be purchased here.