Dr. Chih-Chuang Liaw embarked on his academic journey in the field of bioactive natural products from Chinese herbal medicine during his doctoral studies. He collaborated with Professor Yang-Chang Wu at Kaohsiung Medical University from 1997 to 2004, and later with Professor Kuo-Hsiung Lee at the School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, during 2002-2003. This collaborative effort aimed to explore the therapeutic potential of traditional Chinese herbal remedies.

Following his PhD, Dr. Liaw transitioned into academia, joining the faculty of the Department of Cosmetic Sciences at Chia-Nan University of Pharmacy and Science from 2005 to 2006 for the application of herbal medicine in cosmeceutical products. Subsequently, Dr. Liaw continued his academic pursuits at China Medical University, where he served as a faculty member in the Graduate Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry from 2006 to 2010 for the bioactive constituents of Taiwanese folk medicine and ferns, contributing to the understanding of their medicinal properties.

Since 2010, Dr. Liaw has been a vital member of the Department of Marine Biotechnology and Resources at National Sun Yat-sen University. In this role, he has spearheaded research projects on the exploration of biofunctional natural products from marine microbes. His ongoing research endeavors encompass elucidating the chemical foundations of marine organisms and microorganisms, as well as phytomedicine.

Natural products consistently provide unmatched molecular structural diversity for drug discovery in the pharmaceutical view. The oceans cover 70% of the Earth’s surface and harbor most of the planet’s biodiversity, which have received considerable attention as a resource for natural product discovery. Taiwan, surrounded by Taiwan Strait and the Pacific Ocean, possesses abundant marine resources. Searching for new bioactive principles from the unique Taiwanese resources with an efficient strategy is an emergency and important for Taiwan's biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in the future.

The interests of our lab are to develop biofunctional natural products (NPs) from Taiwan marine bioresources by the efficient research strategy based on modern techniques of analytical chemistry and big-data mining as new drugs or active industrial ingredients. Our present research topics are as follows:

a.Exploring the Antimicrobial NPs from Marine Microbial Resources

b..R.&D. of Anti-biofouling Agents from Marine Resources

c.R.&D. of Marine Microalgal Resources and Taiwanese Herb Resources

Ｗe isolate microbial symbionts from marine organisms collected by scuba diving. By solid cultivation or fermentation to scale up the biomass of these bioactive symbionts, we further isolate the antimicrobial NPs from marine microbes by the efficient research strategy as the following procedure. Based on the allelopathic interaction between marine organisms, we identify the NPs in the biochemical mechanism of allelopathy to further apply allelopathic NPs as API in the eco-friendly painting. In addition, we continue studying the bioactive NPs of Taiwanese herb resources for new drug discovery and food supplement application.