2017 Sweetener Systems Conference
Presentation: Why “No Calorie” makes “No Sense”
Speaker: Nancy E. Rawson, MSc, Ph.D., Associate Director and Associate Member, Monell Chemical Senses Center
Nancy E. Rawson, MSc, Ph.D., is an Associate Director and Associate Member of the Monell Chemical Senses Center. In this role she applies her scientific and leadership experience from a career that spans academia and the food, flavor and nutritional products industry to promote, facilitate and manage Monell’s unique interactions with the corporate world. With training in nutrition, physiology, cell and molecular biology, she enjoys applying her expertise to link the fundamental research in taste, smell and chemical irritation at the Center with innovative technology translation opportunities with the ultimate goal of improving human health and well being.
Rawson holds a master’s degree in nutrition from the University of Massachusetts and a doctorate in biology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1993. She conducted her dissertation research studying appetite control and energy metabolism and then was a research fellow and subsequently a faculty member at the Monell Center for the next 15 years. During this time, her research focused on understanding the development and regeneration of taste and olfactory receptor cells and the impact of aging and disease on these processes.
Her industry experience includes a nutritionist role at Campbell’s Soup Co., Chief Scientific Officer at WellGen Inc., a nutrigenomics start-up company, and as Senior Director of Basic Research and Innovation at AFB International, a global pet food ingredient company. Having returned to Monell in June, 2016, she directs Monell’s highly successful corporate partnership program and conducts research to develop cell-based tools to aid our understanding of taste and olfaction.
Rawson has authored over 65 scientific publications, book chapters and reviews, and is an invited speaker and lecturer on taste, olfaction and nutrition at conferences, universities and corporations throughout the world.
2017 Sweetener Systems Conference Presentation Description:
How High-potency Sweeteners Work and What to Do about It
The science behind taste perception has advanced greatly in recent years. This has resulted in new opportunities from ingredient technologies and product formulation approaches to a better understanding of consumer preferences. With a goal of empowering the development of successful products, this presentation looks at sweetness perception as determined by two sensory-neural pathways and will convey the latest insights into how these pathways may impact reward, metabolic status and perceived flavor. Additional factors such as genetic considerations, oral enzymes and hormonal status that influence flavor perception and preference will be covered. Lastly, the pros and cons of alternative screening methods for sweeteners as tools for ingredient development will be briefly discussed.
