A multidisciplinary research group specializing in pediatrics, genetics, and psychophysics, co-led by the Monell Chemical Senses Center, has identified wide variation in the sensory perception of a pediatric formulation of ibuprofen — some that were tied to genetic ancestry, and some that were not. These findings indicate that a range of factors come into play in determining how a medicine tastes to an individual. Their work, recently published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, is the first in a series of studies funded by the National Institutes of Health to look at variation in the taste of medicines, and the ramifications of safety for kids and meds.