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Reed Lab

Summary

The Reed Lab is a research group led by Dr. Danielle R. Reed at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The laboratory focuses on understanding the genetic basis of chemosensory perception, particularly how individual differences in taste and smell receptor genes influence food preferences, dietary intake, and human health.

Research Focus

The laboratory's research areas include: - Chemosensory Genetics: Mapping the genetic variants in taste receptors (such as bitter receptor genes TAS2R16, TAS2R19, and TAS2R38) and olfactory receptors (OR) that account for why individuals experience food differently. - Dietary Behavior: Investigating how genotype-driven differences in chemosensory perception translate to differences in food liking and intake in cohorts such as the UK Biobank and ALSPAC. - Collaboration on Causal Inference: Contributing to the development of biologically informed genetic instruments for Mendelian randomization studies of dietary exposures (see the Chemosensory MR Pipeline).

Citations

  • Reed Lab at the Monell Chemical Senses Center: https://monell.org/danielle-reed/ (as of 2026-07-19)
  • Key Publication: Hwang, L. D., Lin, C., Evans, D. M., Martin, N. G., Reed, R. D., & Joseph, P. V. (2026). A biologically informed framework for instrument selection in dietary Mendelian randomization using chemosensory genetics. BMC Medicine, 24:359. Source paper: s12916-026-04966-x.pdf