If you’d like to connect or learn more, feel free to reach out. I’d be happy to assist.

#OceaniaBidForIUNS2029 #IUNSBrisbane2029 #IUNS2025 #ICN2025

Stop by Stand C5 in the Exhibition Hall throughout the Congress, where we would welcome the opportunity to speak with you about the bid. Stop by to learn more and take part in some fun giveaways! 🐨🐨🐨

Our shared vision is to bridge gaps in food and nutrition systems, both locally and globally, and to transform the future of nutritional science through collaboration. 🥗🧑‍🤝‍🧑🌏

This is a truly collaborative bid, bringing together Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Island countries, a powerful convergence of developed and developing nations. 🇦🇺🇳🇿🦘🥝

🎉 I’m excited to support the #Oceania region’s bid to host the #IUNS International Congress of Nutrition in Brisbane in 2029 at the IUNS-ICN 2025 in Paris! 🇫🇷🙌🏻

Excited to share my commentary on integrating #transancestry #polygenic risk scores and family history for predicting #psychiatric disorders in #Taiwan #Biobank - now online in Biological Psychiatry

👉 authors.elsevier.com/a/1lduY1S07x...

The latest #GWAS identified a novel locus for the taste of low-calorie sweetener acesulfame potassium- #Coke Zero and #Pepsi Max! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This study is supported by #UQ Summer Research Scholarship & Australian Research Council #ARC #DECRA

– Anonymous reviewers for insightful feedback bridging the gap between our findings and their interpretation

– Most importantly, students Caroline Brito Nunes & Quimbe Dy at UQ Institute for Molecular Bioscience, and collaborators Amanda WeiYin Lim & Jue Sheng Ong at QIMR Berghofer

🙏🙏🙏 Huge thanks to all who made this possible:
– Authors who shared their GWAS summary statistics to the public domain, with special thanks to @npirastu.bsky.social for sharing their #UKBiobank results!
– Online platforms that enable #PheWAS analysis: Open Targets, #IEUOpenGWAS, #GWASAtlas

Interestingly, we found no association with body weight #BMI, even in a sample of 700,000 individuals 🚫🧍🧍‍♀️

We analysed data from the world’s largest genetic studies, including the UK Biobank (500,000 participants). People with the bitter-sensitive variant reported eating less horseradish, grapefruit, salty foods, and alcohol — and were more likely to prefer cucumber, melon, and tea 🥒🍈🍵🍸

Our findings show that this small genetic difference not only predicts everyday preferences like adding salt to food, but is also linked to kidney function, mental health, and gut inflammation.

Your genes can subtly shape your hashtag#food choices 🥗 — and your hashtag#health 🏥 Around 30% of people lack a working version of this bitter taste receptor gene, affecting how strongly they perceive bitterness.

A common #mutation in a #taste #gene 👅🧬 may explain why some people prefer #salty foods or #tea over #coffee ☕️🍵🧂 — and could also influence risks for #kidney disease, #bipolar disorder, and gut health 🧠🦠

📢🚨 Excited to share our latest paper, "Phenome-wide investigation of dietary and health outcomes associated with bitter taste receptor gene #TAS2R38", online today in European Journal of Nutrition:
👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Brisbane-based researchers surveyed 1,352 people across 52 countries and found that COVID-19 vaccination, especially with Moderna, may improve distorted smell and taste symptoms like parosmia and phantosmia in some long COVID patients.

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

⚠️ Worsened chemosensory symptoms were linked to experiencing more vaccine side effects.

A collaborative study from our amazing global team.
#COVID19 #Vaccination #Vaccine #SensoryScience #GCCR

🔍 Example: While 90% of participants reported no changes in general smell or taste, 24.5% reported improved parosmia after the first Moderna dose.

💉 Post-vaccination chemosensory symptoms were assessed by brand and dose (up to 4 doses).
👃👅 Qualitative symptoms—like hashtag#parosmia, hashtag#phantosmia, and distorted taste—were more likely to improve than general smell or taste.

Very excited to share our latest #preprint on post-vaccination changes in #smell & #taste among those whose senses were affected by COVID-19:

We analyzed a global dataset of 1,352 individuals as part of the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research (GCCR).