2025 Symposium

The International Society of Neurogastronomy (ISN) 2025 Symposium

Saturday, August 16, 2025 – Sunday, August 17, 2025

The Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1101 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107

The International Society of Neurogastronomy (ISN) is a professional organization for culinary professionals, agriculture professionals, health care professionals, and scientists of gastronomy in the context of brain and behavior. The concept of Neurogastronomy casts a wide net over all disciplines that are relevant to what we eat, why we like what we eat, and how we eat. The mission of ISN is to advance Neurogastronomy as a craft, science, and health profession, to enhance quality of human life, and to generate and disseminate knowledge of brain-behavior relationships in the context of gastronomy.

Flavor is a major unifying theme for ISN – what it is and how to use it to promote health. Flavor is a natural intersection where taste and smell science overlaps with clinical problems related to food and nutrition, with agriculture, and with chefs and the food preparation industry. ISN reaches out to the public to promote a broad understanding of how taste and smell affect food choices and consumption. ISN also works to develop and promote evidence-based strategies for all areas of health related to flavor. Examples include the impaired flavor perception of chemotherapy patients and appetite control and healthy eating in the face of an epidemic of overconsumption. The founders of ISN invite you to come and join in!

Platform presentations. Speakers will deliver lectures spanning the breadth of ISN. This includes the development of foods that are more flavorful and have greater nutrition benefits, new agricultural practices, the science behind flavor and appetite, and the clinical benefits of a healthy diet. View full program here.

Dinner Workshop. ISN also offers a Neurogastronomy Dinner Workshop. The tradition of this event is to feature the culinary skills of local chefs in a setting where participants can experience flavor while learning about its nature and origins. This year’s dinner workshop will be held at Hudson Table where attendees will have an opportunity to participate in an interactive dining experience in addition to a vermouth tasting led by Vermouth Sommelier, Tim Kweeder. Transportation to/from the event will be provided by Philadelphia Trolley Co. with pick-up and drop-off at the Convention Center. Registrants will receive specific pick-up location prior to the event.

Saturday, August 16th, 2025

12:00 pm – Opening Remarks

12:15 pm – Kai Zhao, Ohio State University – Physiological aerodynamics and transport in the nasal airway: implications for ortho- and retro-nasal olfaction

12:45 pm – Claire de March, University of Paris-Saclay – Mediators of Scent: How Odorant Receptors Shape Our Sense of Smell

1:15 pm – Ann Marie Torregrossa, University at Buffalo – Can your saliva change the taste of your food?

1:45 pm – Tasting Break

2:15 pm – Dana Small, McGill University – Title TBD

2:4 5pm – Kyle Burger, Monell Chemical Senses Center – ‘The role of flavor in food reinforcement learning.

3:15 pm – Thomas Hummel, Technische Universität Dresden – The clinical view on retronasal olfactory perception

3:45 pm – Panel Discussion

4:45 pm – Closing Remarks

Dinner Workshop

6:30 pm at Hudson Table
Read more about this separately ticketed event here

Sunday, August 17th, 2025

8:50 am – Opening Remarks

9:00 am – Claire Murphy, San Diego State University – Title TBD

9:30 am – Lauren Roberson, Ohio State University – Supporting Well-Being through Food: Effective Feeding Strategies for Dementia and Alzheimer’s Care

10:00 am – Gina Mullins Challenge Results

10:15 am – Tasting Break

10:45 am – Chris Simons, Ohio State University – Engaging the Senses: Multisensory and Contextual Influences on Food Preference and Intake

11:15 am – Michelle Niedziella, Nerdoscientist – The ‘Cookie Stomach’ Theory: A Nerdoscientist’s Journey into Predicting Food Behavior with Brains, Behavior, and Bots

11:45 am – Panel Discussion

12:45 pm – Closing Remarks

Lodging

ISN recommends the following lodging options for the 2025 ISN Symposium:

• Hilton Garden Inn Philadelphia Center City
• Four Points by Sheraton Philadelphia City Center
• Hampton Inn Philadelphia Center City-Convention Center
• Philadelphia Marriot Downtown

If you are also attending Pangborn, a  limited number of hotel rooms have been reserved for your convenience. Learn more about it here.

Past Meetings

ISN 2015 – Lexington KY

ISN 2016 – Lexington, KY

ISN 2018 – Lexington, KY

ISN 2019 – New Orleans, LA

ISN 2021 – Virtual

ISN 2022 – Bonita Springs, FL

ISN 2023 – Coronado, CA

ISN 2024 – Lexington, KY