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Dr. J. Enrique Cometto-Muñiz is a biochemist specialized in the study of the human chemical senses (smell, chemical sensory irritation, taste). He graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry at the University of Buenos Aires as Licentiate in Clinical Analysis (March, 1977), Biochemist (December, 1977), and Doctor in Biochemistry (December, 1986). He rose from Research Fellow to Adjunct Investigator at the National Council for Science and Technology of Argentina (CONICET) (1978-1993), and from Teaching Assistant to Adjunct Professor at the University of Buenos Aires (1976-1993). Relocated to the United States, he was appointed, first, Visiting Assistant Fellow (1988-1991) and, then, Assistant Fellow (1991-1994) at the John B. Pierce Laboratory, New Haven and Associate Scientist at Yale University (1988-1994). In July, 1994, Dr. Cometto-Muñiz joined the Department of Surgery (Otolaryngology) of the University of California, San Diego and helped to start the Chemosensory Perception Laboratory where he is, at present, Research Scientist.
Dr. Cometto-Muñiz's research focuses on stimulus-response relationships between chemicals (odorants, tastants, irritants) and corresponding sensations (odor, taste, irritation). He is co-founder of the first Argentinean research group on the human chemical senses, supported by the CONICET. Since the early '80s much of his work has been centered on the study of nasal pungency (irritation) and odor from airborne chemicals and, more recently, on eye irritation. Over the past years, his studies have pioneered testing subjects who lack the sense of smell (anosmics) in order to separate the trigeminal from the olfactory response of the nose to pungent odorants of selected chemical classes. Systematic testing of such chemical families can unveil the physicochemical basis for the sensory impact of these substances.
In 1993, Dr. Cometto-Muñiz was awarded the Moskowitz-Jacobs Inc. AChemS Award for Research Excellence In The Psychophysics of Taste And Smell.
Dr. Cometto-Muñiz is funded by grants from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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e-mail: ecometto@ucsd.edu
phone: (858) 622-5832
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