Sidra Medical and Research Center (Sidra) will hold an international conference on “Senses, Diet and Disease” to further scientific knowledge on how the senses of taste and smell can help address and treat diseases like obesity.
To be held from November 13-15 at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University Student Centre in Education City, the event is directed towards academia, researchers, physicians, healthcare providers and regulatory agents involved in the fields of chemical senses, nutrition, obesity and related disorders.
The 1st Qatar Olfactory Mini Symposium, a satellite half-day meeting will also be an integral part of the conference.
Sidra’s chief of experimental genetics, Professor Paolo Gasparini and investigator Dr Luis Saraiva will be discussing how genes, smell, taste and food preferences can impact on food intake and health status.
“We are really keen to further discuss and explore how olfactory, taste and appetite systems interact and impact on diseases and medical conditions like obesity, cancer or malnutrition.
“The potential of these senses and their interplay have tremendous potential in tackling issues like obesity – a growing health concern in the Gulf region,” said Dr Saraiva.
Obesity has become a major pandemic around the world, with massive social, economic and medical costs.
In the Gulf region, overweight and obesity rates are amongst the highest in the world – posing even bigger problems in the population.
Qatar has taken measures to address its own obesity challenges in the adult population via health and well-being campaigns including the promotion of sports and health activities on National Sport Day.
“Sidra’s efforts through the conference are to bring together world-renowned experts from the fields of olfaction, taste, food perception and intake, and neurobiology of feeding to illustrate the ongoing research and to drive scientific knowledge in this area of research.
“We hope this will provide clues to potential approaches for controlling appetite and obesity, which is of serious medical concern in our modern society,” said Dr Saraiva.