Dr. Richard L. Doty is a preeminent scientist renowned for his transformative contributions to the understanding of chemosensory function and dysfunction. He currently serves as Professor of Psychology in Otorhinolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and as Director of the Smell and Taste Center, a position he has held since 1980. After earning his PhD in Comparative Psychology and Zoology from Michigan State University in 1971, he completed postdoctoral training in behavioral endocrinology at the University of California, Berkeley under the mentorship of Dr. Frank Beach. His early career included significant research at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, where he established himself as a pioneering authority in the emerging field of olfactory science.
Dr. Doty's groundbreaking work in developing the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test revolutionized clinical assessment of olfactory function, providing the first standardized quantitative measure that has been administered to nearly half a million individuals worldwide since its introduction in the 1980s. His research has established critical connections between olfactory dysfunction and neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Parkinson's disease, demonstrating how smell loss can serve as an early biomarker for neurological conditions. With over 500 professional publications including 12 books, his scholarly output has fundamentally shaped the scientific understanding of chemosensory processes and their clinical implications. The UPSIT, often described as the olfactory equivalent to the eye chart, has become the gold standard diagnostic tool used by clinicians and researchers globally.
As a highly decorated scholar, Dr. Doty has received numerous prestigious awards including the James A. Shannon Award from the National Institutes of Health, the Association for Chemoreception Science's Max Mozell Award for Outstanding Achievement, and recognition as the top-ranked scholar in olfaction by ScholarGPS in 2024. He serves as an editorial consultant to more than 50 scientific journals and advises major corporations and governmental committees on chemosensory matters. His ongoing research continues to explore the intricate relationships between smell function and neurological health, with recent investigations focusing on the potential of intranasal administration of neurotoxicants to model Parkinson's disease. Now in his fifth decade of leadership, Dr. Doty remains at the forefront of advancing both the scientific understanding and clinical application of olfactory research, mentoring the next generation of scientists while continuing his own groundbreaking investigations.
