Tom Finger

Tom Finger is a Professor in the Department of Cell & Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. His research focuses on the chemical senses, particularly taste, smell, and trigeminal sensitivity, investigating their developmental mechanisms and functional organization in vertebrates.

• Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1975)
• Co-Director of the Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center
• Affiliated with multiple graduate programs: Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience, Cell Biology, and Medical Scientist Training Program

Current research in his lab explores:

• Solitary chemosensory cells in nasal and gut epithelia, acting as sentinels for noxious substances
• Taste bud development, including cellular organization and ATP-mediated neural communication
• Feeding behavior regulation through oropharyngeal chemoreceptors
• Comparative gustation in goldfish, studying their specialized vagal taste system

Key article trends reveal:

• 2003-2010: Foundational work on taste bud ATP signaling and chemosensory cell differentiation
• 2015-2022: Expanding to human taste biology and neural connectome mapping
• 2023: Investigating evolutionary parallels in avian/dinosaur brain development