PODCAST: Why data collaboration is crucial to advancing personalised nutrition in Taiwan, Korea and Japan

Dr Wang is a professor at the Chung Shan Medical University, teaching medicine and nutrition, and also practices enteral medicine at Chung Shan Medical University Hospital.

In the podcast, we discuss his career, research and his views on personalised nutrition stemming from his involvement in the Taiwan Biobank, which has collected gene samples from over 120,000 generally healthy Taiwan residents aged from 30 to 70.

Despite this number set to hit 200,000 by 2024, Dr Wang discusses why it is vital to also pool ‘big data’ from neighbouring nations in the quest to deliver personalised nutrition solutions.

In terms of research priorities, Dr Wang and his team of 25 researchers have been studying the health benefits of brewed roselle beverage.

“I believe that food is medicine, medicine is food, nutrition is a very good bridge for connecting between food and medicine,”​ he said.

One of the reasons for the belief, he said, was partly due to the influence of his tutors when he was studying medicine during his undergraduate days in National Taiwan University (NTU).

“When I was studying in NTU, my tutors, their major work is not only in medicine, but only in nutrition. This is the reason why [policies relating to] nutrition development is very quick in Taiwan.​

“Sometimes, the cause of an illness is due to nutrition imbalance and deficient. If we can give the right intervention, they can recover very soon not because of medicine, but because of the necessary nutrients,” ​he added.

Also the honorary president of the Nutrition Society of Taiwan and executive board member of the International Society for Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods (ISNFF), Dr Wang also travels around the world to impart nutrition knowledge, such as helping to set up intervention centres in different regions, especially the Balkan states.

Listen to the podcast for more.