A Nurse with Olfactory Superpowers
Joy will be speaking jointly with Drupad Trivedi.
Their talk will start with the story of Joy’s remarkable life. While working as an NHS nurse in Scotland, Joy discovered she had a true superpower. She discovered she could smell the presence of Parkinson’s Disease on afflicted people far in advance of medical diagnostics. In the case of her husband, Joy was able to detect the onset of Parkinson’s 12 years before medical science could confirm what she already knew.
Eventually, she was put to the test by the University of Edinburgh and they confirmed what she knew all along. Joy could, in fact, reliably detect the presence of Parkinson’s with her superhuman sense of smell. In their research, she had diagnosed Parkinson’s correctly in 100% of the cases she was tested on.
Today, Joy is working closely with the University of Manchester and Dr. Drupad Trivedi to better understand Joy’s incredible abilities. They are now exploring the possibilities extending her abilities to other diseases, most notably tuberculosis. They cross the Pennines to join us in Newcastle to reveal the remarkable discoveries their research is uncovering and how it could change the future of disease detection.
Joy Milne’s bio
Joy Milne is a hereditary hyperosmic individual and research collaborator at the University of Manchester, where her unique olfactory abilities contribute to groundbreaking medical research. Her heightened sense of smell, passed down through her maternal lineage and refined during her nursing career, has enabled her to identify disease biomarkers through sebum (natural skin oils) analysis—particularly in Parkinson’s Disease (PD).
Milne’s work explores sebum’s role as a diagnostic medium, focusing on sebaceous gland activity in facial and scalp regions. She questions why sebum testing—a non-invasive method—has not been fully utilised in diagnostics, especially given its potential to revolutionise PD management.
Beyond PD, her research extends to tuberculosis (TB) detection, where her olfactory skills opened avenues for use of sebum when compared to trained African pouched rats in identifying the smell of TB. Collaborating with Dr Drupad Trivedi, she aims to develop accessible swab-based tests for diseases like TB, particularly in paediatric cases where traditional sputum tests fail.
Trained in Cardiovascular, Renal, and Metabolic (CVRM) diseases, Milne bridges clinical and patient-centred insights, emphasising the body’s ability to express disease through multiple biofluids. Her work challenges conventional diagnostic paradigms, advocating for sebum-based testing as a transformative tool in global healthcare.
Key Contributions:
• Pioneering sebum analysis for PD and TB detection.
• Advancing non-invasive diagnostic methods through olfaction and biochemistry.
• Integrating PPI perspectives to improve neurological and infectious disease outcomes.
Her dedication persists despite personal loss, fuelling her mission to reshape medical diagnostics and reduce global disease burdens.
