Research Overview 
Valerie B. Duffy (PhD, RD) offers a wealth of experience in food, nutrition, health promotion and public health nutrition. The Duffy Lab at the University of Connecticut has two main research interests. First, we attempt to understand variation in chemosensory perception in humans and how this variation influences food flavor, food preference and food intake. Our ultimate goal is to understand how chemosensory variation influences our ability to follow a healthy diet for the prevention of chronic disease and obesity. Second, we collaborate with the Connecticut Department of Public Health with Food Stamps Nutrition Education funding to improve the food habits of preschool children and their families. Through involvement of undergraduate and graduate student research, we are investigating the effectiveness of interventions in the Head Start and School Readiness Programs to improve vegetable intake and level of physical activity of preschool children.

Dr. Duffy and her students have numerous publications and presentations at national and international meetings.  She has received several awards for excellence in teaching, research and service.  Students who have trained with Dr. Duffy are advancing nutrition and health through research, practice or public health leadership.

Education 
Post-Doctoral Fellowship Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (taste neurobiology)  

Ph.D. University of Connecticut, Department of Nutritional Sciences, Storrs, CT, 1992 (human nutrition)

M.S. Rush University, Chicago, IL, 1984 (human nutrition)

R.D. Dietetic Internship, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, IL, 1983

B.S. Cornell University, College of Human Ecology, Ithaca, New York, 1982 (nutrition)

Featured Publications 
Hayes JE , Duffy VB. Oral sensory phenotype identifies level of fat and sugar required for maximal liking. Physiol Behav, available online, May 2nd, 2008. 10.1016/j.physbeh.2008.04.023

Hayes JE, Bartoshuk LM, Kidd J, Duffy VB. Supertasting and PROP bitterness depends on more than the TAS2R38 gene. Chemical Senses 2008; doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjm084.

Duffy VB.  Oral sensation and nutrition.  Current Opinion in Gastroenterology, March 2007, 23(2):171-7.

Duffy VB, Lanier SA, Hutchins HL, Pescatello LS, Johnson MK, Bartoshuk LM. Food preference as a screen for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk within health risk appraisal. J Am Diet Assoc, February 2007;107(2):237-45.

Hayes J, Duffy VB. Revisiting sucrose-fat mixtures: sweetness and creaminess vary with phenotypic markers of oral sensation.  Chemical Senses, 2007 Mar;32(3):225-36. Epub 2007 Jan 4.

Bartoshuk LM, Duffy VB, Hayes JE, Moskowitz HR, Snyder DJ. Psychophysics of sweet and fat perception in obesity: problems, solutions and new perspectives.  Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2006 Jul 29;361(1471):1137-48.

Dinehart ME, Hayes JE, Bartoshuk LM, Lanier SL, Duffy VB.  Bitter taste markers explain variability in vegetable sweetness, bitterness and intake. Physiol Behav. 2006 Feb 28;87(2):304-13.

Basson MD, Bartoshuk LM, DiChello S, Panzini L, Weiffenbach J, Duffy VB.  Associations between 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) bitterness and colonic neoplasms. Digestive Diseases and Sciences 2005; 50 (3): 483–489.

Lanier SA, Hayes JE, Duffy VB. Sweet and bitter tastes of alcoholic beverages mediate alcohol intake in of-age undergraduates. Physiology & Behavior 2005; 83: 821-831.

Duffy VB, Davidson AC, Kidd JR, Kidd KK, Speed WC, Pakstis AJ, Reed DR, Snyder DJ, Bartoshuk LM. Bitter Receptor Gene (TAS2R38), 6-n-Propylthiouracil (PROP) Bitterness and Alcohol Intake. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 2004;28(11):1629-1637.

Duffy VB.  Associations between Oral Sensation, Dietary Behaviors and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD).  Appetite, 2004;43(1); pp 5-9.