Michael Tordoff facts for kids

Dr. Michael G. Tordoff is a scientist who studies how the brain and body work together. He worked at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, a place where scientists study taste and smell. He researched how our genes and bodies affect what we taste and how we get nutrients from food.

Early in his career, he studied several interesting things. He looked at how animals learn about the value of their food. He also researched how artificial sweeteners affect how hungry we feel and our body weight. Dr. Tordoff also studied how our bodies control how much salt we eat. He even explored how the calcium we eat affects how much salt we want.

More recently, Dr. Tordoff has been looking into how we taste calcium and how it affects our appetite. He is a strong believer that calcium is a basic taste, just like sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.

Dr. Tordoff also leads the Monell Mouse Taste Phenotyping Project. This project helps scientists understand how mice taste different things. In August 2009, he rode his bicycle all the way across the USA in just 27 days! He is married to Dr. Danielle Reed, who is also a scientist, and they often work together on research.

External Links for More Information

• Learn more about Dr. Tordoff on the Monell Chemical Senses Center website
• See a list of Dr. Tordoff's scientific papers