Rui Liu | Food Science | Best Researcher Award | 13549

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Prof. Rui Liu | Food Science | Best Researcher Award

Prof. Rui Liu, Huazhong Agriculture University, China

Prof. Rui Liu, a distinguished faculty member at Huazhong Agricultural University, China, brings over two decades of academic excellence and innovation in the fields of molecular nutrition, apicultural science, and functional food research. With a solid foundation in food science and engineering, he has spearheaded 21 research projects, authored 67 peer-reviewed publications, and holds 13 patents with 10 more under process. His work has earned him numerous national and provincial honors, including the MOE Science Progress First Prize. Prof. Liu’s research has advanced the understanding of bee product efficacy, dietary polyphenols, and value-added food processing, making a significant impact on health, agriculture, and industry.

Author Profile

Scopus

Education

Prof. Rui Liu began his academic journey with a strong inclination toward food science and technology. He earned his Bachelor of Engineering from the Department of Food Science and Technology at Huazhong Agricultural University in 1993. His foundational years were deeply rooted in understanding the biochemical, technological, and engineering aspects of food systems. Committed to deepening his expertise, Prof. Liu pursued his Ph.D. in Engineering at the same university, graduating in 2004. These formative academic years were marked by rigorous study, research immersion, and a budding interest in apicultural sciences and functional food components.

Experience

Prof. Rui Liu has cultivated a distinguished professional career deeply rooted in Huazhong Agricultural University, where he has held various academic and administrative roles since 1993. Beginning in student affairs management, he transitioned into full-time teaching and research in 2002. Over the years, he has emerged as a key academic leader in the College of Food Science and Technology, where he actively contributes to the advancement of educational programs, interdisciplinary research, and mentorship of young scholars. His three-decade-long service reflects a steadfast commitment to institutional development, curriculum innovation, and public engagement. Beyond the university, Prof. Liu’s expertise is widely recognized through significant appointments in government and industry. He serves as Vice Chairman of the China Apicultural Association, Executive Vice Chairman of the Hubei Provincial Apicultural Association, Director of the Wuhan Bee Product Quality & Safety Engineering Control Research Center, and Position Expert for the Wuhan Modern Urban Agricultural Industry Technology System.

Research Focus

Prof. Rui Liu’s research encompasses the intersecting domains of molecular nutrition, apicultural product science, and value-added agricultural processing, positioning him as a leading innovator in functional food and health-related agricultural research. His scientific endeavors focus on exploring the health-promoting properties of bee-derived substances, bioactive food compounds, and plant-based polyphenols. Noteworthy contributions include the probiotic-mediated enhancement of bee product efficacy, achieved through cutting-edge metabolomics and synthetic biology techniques. He has also successfully identified biomarkers in Chinese honey varieties, offering new perspectives on their physiological and therapeutic potential. Prof. Liu’s multi-omics research on polyphenol-gut microbiota interactions has provided valuable insights into their role in regulating metabolic health and preventing conditions such as atherosclerosis, alcoholic liver injury, and urinary tract infections. Additionally, his investigations into thermal food processing have revealed how such processes influence the bioavailability of dietary polyphenols, further bridging food science and human health.


Award and Recognition

Prof. Rui Liu’s pioneering contributions to food science and apicultural research have earned him widespread recognition at national, provincial, and municipal levels. Among his most prestigious honors are the MOE Science Progress First Prize 🥇, the Outstanding Scientific Researcher Award, and the Outstanding Science and Technology Commissioner Award, each reflecting his outstanding achievements in scientific innovation and community impact. Beyond individual accolades, Prof. Liu has played a vital role in certifying six key research outcomes and in the development of three regional standards that have elevated the quality and safety benchmarks within the food and apicultural sectors. His practical expertise is further evidenced by 13 published patents and 10 more under process, highlighting his commitment to translating scientific discovery into real-world applications that benefit industry, public health, and agricultural sustainability.

Publications

📘 Metabolic characteristics of catechin (monomeric flavan-3-ols), B-type linkage flavan-3-ols and A-type linkage flavan-3-ols revealed by un-targeted and targeted metabolomics – Food Research International (2025)
📘 Integrated Multi-Omics Analysis Reveals the Regulatory Mechanism of Peanut Skin Procyanidins on Lipid Metabolism in High-Fat-Diet-Induced Obese Mice – Nutrients (2025)
📘 Antioxidant and anti-aging effect of queen bee larvae (Apis mellifera) protein hydrolysates in Drosophila melanogaster – International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (2025)
📘Identification of phenolamine in rape bee pollen and its protective effect and mechanism on alcoholic liver injury – Food Science and Human Wellness (2025)

Cuirong Ren | Food Science | Best Researcher Award | 13475

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Ms. Cuirong Ren | Food Science | Best Researcher Award

Ms. Cuirong Ren, Sestre milosrdnice UHC, Croatia

Dr. Cuirong Ren is an accomplished food scientist and assistant professor at Shandong Agricultural University, specializing in structural lipids, functional milk fats, and food safety. With a Ph.D. from Jiangnan University and international research experience at Wageningen University, she has led significant projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Dr. Ren’s work bridges advanced lipidomics, milk fat substitution, and gastrointestinal modeling, contributing to innovations in nutrition and dairy science. Her technical expertise spans chromatography, spectroscopy, rheology, and advanced data modeling, positioning her as a leading researcher in food science and technology.

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:

  • “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.

  • “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:

  • Lipidomics via LC-MS, GC-MS, and NMR

  • Dynamic gastrointestinal models

  • Milk and protein structural analysis

  • 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:

  • Establishing a center of excellence for lipid-based functional foods

  • Leading cross-border collaborations to combat malnutrition through tailored fat formulations

  • 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