Author Profile
Scopus
🎓 Early Academic Pursuits
Dr. Cuirong Ren began her academic journey with a strong foundation in Food Quality and Safety, earning her Bachelor’s degree from Qingdao Agricultural University in 2015. Her passion for food science and safety drove her to pursue a Master’s degree in Food Science and Technology at the same institution, where she began delving deeper into the biochemical and functional aspects of food systems. Her curiosity and diligence led her to one of China’s top institutions for food research—Jiangnan University, where she earned her Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology in 2023.
During her Ph.D., she further broadened her scientific horizons with an international stint as a visiting Ph.D. researcher at Wageningen University in the Netherlands from 2021 to 2022. There, she gained specialized knowledge in Dairy Science and Technology, which significantly influenced her future research direction in lipids, milk structure, and gastrointestinal modeling.
🧪 Professional Endeavors
Dr. Ren currently serves as an Assistant Professor at the College of Food Science and Technology, Shandong Agricultural University, a position she began in November 2023. In this role, she combines rigorous academic research with hands-on mentorship of graduate students, emphasizing translational science that can benefit both academia and industry.
Her laboratory focuses on advanced lipid analysis, the structure-function relationship in milk fats, and the development of functional food components tailored for specific populations, such as infants or individuals with medical needs.
🔬 Contributions and Research Focus
Dr. Ren’s research revolves around the molecular structure and digestive behavior of milk fats and their substitutes. She has led and participated in several key national research projects, including two funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China:
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“Digestion-driven self-assembly structure in human milk” (2025–2027): As project leader, Dr. Ren explores how milk fats reorganize under digestive conditions, paving the way for better infant formula design.
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“StOSt-rich Fat to Improve Chocolate Stability” (2021–2023): This project explored how structured fats can enhance heat resistance and reduce bloom in chocolates, offering potential for broader applications in food storage and processing.
Another significant milestone was her doctoral research (2018–2023) on sow milk fat composition and the development of a milk fat substitute, which has already been commercialized in piglet formula products—a rare achievement for a young researcher.
Her expertise encompasses:
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Lipidomics via LC-MS, GC-MS, and NMR
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Dynamic gastrointestinal models
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Milk and protein structural analysis
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Development of nutritional foods for special medical purposes
Her studies contribute deeply to understanding fat behavior, nutritional absorption, and gastrointestinal interactions in both animals and humans.
🏅 Accolades and Recognition
Though early in her academic career, Dr. Ren has already earned national recognition through competitive research grants and has demonstrated industry impact with commercial product applications. Her projects have been praised for both scientific rigor and real-world utility, which is often a challenge in food science research.
She is frequently invited to present at food science symposia and has collaborated with international scholars during her time in Europe, which broadened her cross-cultural research competence and brought global perspectives into her work.
🌍 Impact and Influence
Dr. Ren’s research is helping redefine milk fat modeling and substitution—a field critical for infant nutrition, functional food development, and animal health. Her innovative use of tools such as MATLAB-based fat similarity evaluation, dynamic digestion simulations, and microstructure characterization via advanced spectroscopy has set new standards in how food lipids are studied and optimized.
Moreover, her work in plasma technology for the degradation of aflatoxins—toxic compounds found in contaminated food—has implications for global food safety, especially in developing countries where food contamination is still prevalent.
🌟 Legacy and Future Contributions
Looking ahead, Dr. Cuirong Ren is well-positioned to become a thought leader in food structure-function analysis and nutrition-oriented food engineering. Her ambition includes:
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Establishing a center of excellence for lipid-based functional foods
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Leading cross-border collaborations to combat malnutrition through tailored fat formulations
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Publishing high-impact papers that bridge food chemistry, nutrition, and public health
Her dedication to training the next generation of researchers, especially women in science, promises a lasting legacy in academic mentorship and scientific innovation.
📝 Publication Top Notes
📘Characteristics of sow milks at different lactation stages and their frozen storage stabilities
Author: Cuirong Ren, Qingzhe Jin, Jun Jin, Yanbing Zhang, Xingguo Wang
Journal: Food Science and Technology
Year: 2021
📘 Phospholipid profiling, cholesterol, and tocopherols: Comparison of sow milk fats from two lactation stages and five breeds
Author: Cuirong Ren, Jun Jin, Shiwei Zhao, Yanbing Zhang, Qingzhe Jin, Xingguo Wang.
Journal: Food Bioscience
Year: 2022
📘 Evaluation of fatty acid profile of colostrum and milk fat of different sow breeds.
Author: Cuirong Ren, Jun Jin, Xingguo Wang, Yanbing Zhang, Qingzhe Jin
Journal: International Dairy
Year: 2022