Laboratory of Nature Dietary Product & Disease Prevention
Research Field
Professor Min-Hsiung Pan is a Distinguished Professor in the Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Bio-Resources and Agriculture, National Taiwan University. His research centers on chemoprevention, precision nutrition, functional foods, and natural-product-based interventions for chronic diseases, with particular emphasis on inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer, metabolic syndrome, obesity, liver injury, aging, and gut microbiota-related health modulation. Over the years, he has built an influential research program spanning bioactive phytochemicals, nutraceuticals, extracellular vesicles, food-derived nanostructures, and gut–organ axis regulation, establishing important mechanistic models from compound identification to efficacy evaluation and translational application.
Professor Pan has made sustained contributions to several major research areas. His group has systematically investigated curcumin and its related compounds, including bisdemethoxycurcumin, metabolites, degradants, and fermented turmeric products, to clarify their bioavailability, structure–activity relationships, and preventive effects against intestinal inflammation and colorectal carcinogenesis. He has also made significant advances in polymethoxyflavones (PMFs), demonstrating their roles in regulating adipose inflammation, browning, bile acid metabolism, skeletal muscle maintenance, and gut microbiota. In addition, his work on stilbenoids such as pterostilbene and piceatannol has provided important evidence for dietary prevention strategies targeting metabolic disorders, circadian disruption, chronic inflammation, and cancer progression. More recently, his team has expanded into plant-derived extracellular vesicles and food-derived bioactive nanoparticles, highlighting their promise as emerging delivery systems and functional nanostructures in preventive nutrition.
To date, Professor Pan’s team has published 345 academic articles in the field of natural-product chemoprevention and related disciplines. His academic excellence has been recognized through numerous honors, including the Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (2024), Fellow of the International Society for Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods (2023), inclusion among the World’s Top 2% Scientists since 2020, the MOST Outstanding Research Award, the Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher distinction, and several prestigious national awards in Taiwan. Beyond research, he has also provided strong academic leadership, serving as Director of the Institute of Food Science and Technology at National Taiwan University (2018–2024), Director of the NTU Experimental Farm (2019–2023), and holding key editorial positions, including Associate Editor of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. His work continues to shape the development of preventive nutrition and functional food science in Taiwan and internationally.
Professor Min-Hsiung Pan’s laboratory at National Taiwan University is dedicated to research on natural products, functional foods, nutraceuticals, and disease chemoprevention, with a particular focus on intestinal inflammation, colorectal cancer, metabolic disorders, gut microbiota, and food-derived bioactive compounds. The laboratory integrates studies ranging from compound isolation and characterization to efficacy evaluation and molecular mechanism investigation, and has established a strong research platform in preventive nutrition and translational food science. In addition to its broad research expertise, the laboratory is well equipped with a wide range of advanced instruments to support multidisciplinary research, including a flow cytometer, HPLC systems, a fluorescence microscope, a chemiluminescence imaging system, and an ultracentrifuge, which together provide strong technical support for cellular, biochemical, and molecular analyses.
Professor Min-Hsiung Pan’s research focuses on the chemopreventive and health-promoting effects of natural products and functional foods, especially in relation to chronic inflammatory and metabolic diseases. His work emphasizes how bioactive food components modulate inflammation, oxidative stress, gut barrier function, gut microbiota, and disease-related signaling pathways, with the goal of developing evidence-based dietary strategies for disease prevention and health promotion.
A major theme of his research is the study of phytochemicals and food-derived bioactive compounds, including curcuminoids, polymethoxyflavones, stilbenoids, and other naturally occurring substances. His laboratory investigates their bioavailability, metabolism, structure–activity relationships, and molecular mechanisms, particularly in models of colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, fatty liver, and other metabolic disorders.
In addition, Professor Pan’s research extends to gut microbiota regulation, precision nutrition, and innovative delivery systems, such as food-derived nanoparticles and plant-derived extracellular vesicles, to enhance the stability and efficacy of bioactive compounds. Overall, his research integrates food chemistry, molecular nutrition, cell biology, and disease prevention, and aims to translate natural-product research into practical applications in functional foods and preventive medicine.
Professor Min-Hsiung Pan has received numerous prestigious honors in recognition of his contributions to food science, nutraceuticals, and disease chemoprevention. His major awards include being named a Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (2024), a Fellow of the International Society for Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods (2023), and a recipient of the World’s Top 2% Scientists Award for both annual and career impact. He also received the Taiwan Academic Achievement Award of the Agricultural Chemical Society of Taiwan (2020), the Dr. Tung Ta-Cheng’s Basic Cancer Research Award (2020), the MOST Outstanding Research Award (2018), and recognition as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics (2018). Earlier in his career, he was honored with the Outstanding Research Award of the National Science Council (2011), the Ten Outstanding Young People Award in Taiwan (2008), and the Ta-You Wu Memorial Award of the National Science Council (2007). These distinctions reflect his long-standing academic excellence and international impact in the fields of functional foods, natural products, and preventive medicine.
Professor Min-Hsiung Pan earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Graduate Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, during the period from September 1996 to June 2000.