Philadelphia-based Jefferson university (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University) signed a letter of intent to merge with the Monell Center, an independent nonprofit scientific institute dedicated to the interdisciplinary research on the senses of taste and smell, also based in Philadelphia, Oct. 12.
Under the agreement, the Monell Center will combine its research operations with those of Jefferson and Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health to learn more about the specific senses of taste and smell and their use in clinical practice.
"We will be able to go further than ever before to link the senses to health," said Stephen K. Klasko, MD, president and CEO of Jefferson and Jefferson Health. "When you combine our clinical work with the entrepreneurial, academic environment of our university, the groundbreaking research that occurs at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College and now add the esteemed Monell Center into the mix, this is how you improve lives."