Resources

Where to go from here.

Curated resources for people living with anosmia, their families, clinicians and researchers studying it, and anyone working to understand smell loss better. This list is updated as the field grows.

Jump to:   Safety  ·  Living with anosmia  ·  Research centers  ·  Allied organizations  ·  Reading

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Safety with anosmia

Smell is a warning sense, and people who can’t smell often learn this the hard way. A few essentials every household with anosmia should have, and a habit or two worth building.

Natural gas leak detectors

Natural gas is odorized specifically so people can detect leaks. If you can’t smell, you need a hardware backup. Plug-in or battery-powered natural gas detectors are inexpensive and widely available. If you have a gas stove, gas heat, or any gas appliance in your home, this is the single most important safety device you can install.

Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

Working smoke alarms on every level of your home and outside every sleeping area. Carbon monoxide detectors on every level, especially near bedrooms. CO is odorless to everyone, but people with anosmia can’t catch the secondary indicators: vehicle exhaust drift, a faulty furnace, a generator running too close to the house. Check batteries twice a year.

Food safety

Don’t rely on the sniff test. Printed dates are quality guides rather than safety guarantees, so lean on time and temperature instead: refrigerate promptly, date-mark leftovers, and when something is borderline, throw it out or ask a household member to check. Our guide to living safely with anosmia covers all of this in more depth.

Research and clinical centers

For clinicians seeking specialty referral or researchers looking for collaborators, the major smell and taste centers globally. If you are a clinician, our short guide to assessing smell loss covers workup, testing, coding and referral.

United States

Monell Chemical Senses Center (Philadelphia): the world’s only independent research institute dedicated to taste and smell
University of Pennsylvania Smell and Taste Center: a landmark center, though its academic and clinical research activities are currently suspended
Florida Chemical Senses Institute (University of Florida, renamed in 2024 from the Center for Smell and Taste): research, with clinical care through the UF Health Smell Disorders Program
UConn Health Taste and Smell Clinic: chemical senses research and clinic

United Kingdom

SMEL Sheffield (the Sheffield cheMosensory Exploration Laboratory): pediatric smell loss clinic, the first of its kind in the UK
University of East Anglia: olfactory research and post-COVID smell loss studies, plus the Smell and Taste Clinic at James Paget University Hospital

Europe and elsewhere

Technische Universität Dresden (Germany): the Interdisciplinary Center Smell and Taste, a leading European smell research center
Karolinska Institutet (Sweden): chemical senses research
University of Padua (Italy): post-COVID olfactory research

Trusted reading

A starting point if you want to go deeper.

Books

Smellosophy by A.S. Barwich: a philosophical and scientific examination of olfaction
What the Nose Knows by Avery Gilbert: accessible introduction to the science of smell
The Scent of Desire by Rachel Herz: emotional and psychological dimensions of smell

Papers and articles

Peer-reviewed literature on smell loss has grown rapidly since 2020. PubMed is the most reliable starting point for clinical and research papers. Search terms like “anosmia,” “olfactory dysfunction,” “smell training,” or “parosmia” return the current body of work. For accessible science writing on the topic, look to Monell and SmellTaste on their own sites.