Vibrational Theory of Olfaction
Lectures: 2 h
Luca Turin was born in 1953 in Beirut, Lebanon, to Italian-Argentinian parents. Brought up in France, Italy and Switzerland. Studied Physiology and Biophysics at University College London, PhD in 1978. Worked at the CNRS 1982-92, then lecturer in Biophysics at UCL 1992-2000. He is best known for his work on olfaction, in which he proposed a quantum mechanism for odorant recognition by receptors. For 8 years he was CTO of a venture company designing odorants for fragrance and flavors with a success rate 100 times the industry average. After returning to full time research in 2009, in collaboration with Makis Skoulakis inn Athens, Greece, he has shown that both flies and humans can detect molecular
vibrations by smell. His current interest is in quantum electronics in neuroscience. He is the author of three perfume guides, a collecion of essays and a popular science book on how smell works. He was the Stavros Niarchos Researcher at the Alexander Fleming Institute in Athens. He moved to the UK in 2020 and is currently Professor in the Medical School at the University of Buckingham (UK)
Professor:
Prof. Luca Turin
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences | Biomedical Research
University of Buckingham, UK
email: Luca.turin (at) buckingham.ac.uk