The research collection in the Health Science Department is comprised of rare and unique specimens, as well as a small selection of pieces of medical importance. The department is actively seeking research collection acquisitions in the areas of anatomy, pathology, histology, and regional medical history.

Health Sciences at the Museum began with the opening of the Museum's first permanent health exhibition in 1987, the Hall of Life. This exhibition helped to grow health science as an attraction for visitors, to support health science education, to expand on hand-on exhibits at the Museum and to incorporate Health Sciences as a core competency. By 1998, the goals were completed and surpassed, and recommendations were made for a health science strategic plan, the renovation of the Hall of Life, and the hiring of PhD level scientists to ensure the quality and scientific accuracy of all health science related exhibits, education, and programming. These recommendations were made part of the Museum's strategic plan, Museum 20/20, and the Health Sciences Initiative was born. In 2004 the Museum officially created the Health Sciences Department and hired its first PhD level health science curator, Dr. Bridget Coughlin. Dr. Coughlin became the content specialist on the health exhibition core team at the Museum. Under Dr. Coughlin,  the new permanent health exhibition, Expedition Health, opened to the public on April 1, 2009. In October of 2009, the Museum hired Dr. Nicole Garneau as a second curator in the Health Sciences Department, and launched the first community-based participatory laboratory that studies molecular genetics.

Genetics of Taste: A Flavor for Health is a community-based, participatory research study in Lab Central in Expedition Health. Its main focus is on a gene cleverly named tas2r38, pronounced "taster 38." This is the gene that determines if you can taste the bitter compound phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and its chemical relatives propylthiouracil (PROP) and goitrin (the bitter compound found in vegetables like broccoli and spinach). The research focuses on how the ability to taste bitter and how well people taste in general is related to overall health, and if ancestry and genotype of tas2r38 are connected.

The Health Sciences Department serves over 10,000 people a year through the community-based Genetics of Taste laboratory, onsite lectures and events for students and adults, and offsite lectures and multimedia applications like the Blue Tongue Blog.

In one year we:

• Enroll over 1000 people in the Genetics of Taste research study
• Paint thousands of tongues blue to show visitors their papillae density
• Reach students across the country through Scientists in Action

All staff members in the community-based lab are encouraged to serve the chemoreception field. In this respect, each lab staff person is a member of the Association for Chemoreception Sciences. Regionally, the team attends events held through the Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center. Locally, we serve the Denver community through high school and undergraduate level internships, as well as through the CBSA/PEBC high school science teacher extern program.