Reuben Wang received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from the Graduate Institute of Food Science and Technology at the National Taiwan University. He had his postdoctoral training in the Department of Agricultural Chemistry at

National Taiwan University. Early in his career, he used the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model to investigate the effects of resveratrol extract on DNA repair pathways. Later, he shifted his research interests to

studying the bioconversion mechanism of saponins in microbes, using a very different approach that combined the yeast single-gene deletion database with LC/MSMS. Through this work, he established a strong technical

framework for understanding the relationship between saponin bioconversion profiles and gene mutations in microbes. His discoveries have advanced our understanding of interactions between microbial cell wall structure and

bioconversion activity. Currently, he also steps his foot into the field of environmental microbiology and bacteriophage training, together with his collaborators from Texas A&M University, Academia Sinica, and National Taiwan

University, which utilize high throughput and big data analysis approaches ( including transcriptomic and metagenomics) to delineate the microbial-mediated processes of pollutants degradation in the natural and engineered

systems and to unveil the potential usage of bacteriophage as a biocontrol agent and biorecognition element.

His interdisciplinary training in food science, molecular microbiology, chemical analysis, and big data analysis has placed him in a unique position to run and join several collaborative research programs with NTU and the

Department of Food Safety / Hygiene and Risk Management at NCKU aimed at improving food safety. These include developing point-of-care devices based on electrospinning techniques for pathogen detection in ready-to-

eat food and studying the impact of different biosecurity practices in laying hen farms on laying-hen survival and egg production. His research findings were published in several high-ranking journals, and he has had the

rewarding experience of teaching microbiology.

The Applied Microbial Safety & Biosensor Laboratory at National Taiwan University, led by Prof. Reuben Wang, focuses on engineering innovative biomaterial platforms to address emerging challenges in food safety,

environmental protection, and antimicrobial therapy. Our research integrates microbiology, bacteriophages, biomaterials, nanotechnology, and biochemical engineering to develop functional systems for bacterial detection,

control, and biocatalysis. In particular, we engineer phage-loaded hydrogels, electrospun nanofibers, and biosensing platforms to control the behavior and delivery of biological agents, while exploring synergistic interactions

between phages, enzymes, and functional biomolecules. By combining biological functions with rational materials engineering, our laboratory aims to transform naturally occurring biological agents into stable, controllable, and

application-ready technologies for safer food, sustainable processes, and next-generation antimicrobial strategies.