The PI Ho-Cheng Wu received his B.S. degree and Master's degree in Pharmacy at Kaohsiung Medical University. Before he obtained his Ph.D. at Graduate Institute of Natural Products in Kaohsiung Medical University, he took more than two years to be a pharmacist at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Chiayi. After a year as a postdoctoral researcher at National Taiwan University, he was recruited as an assistant professor at Graduate Institute of Pharmacognosy in Taipei Medical University.

Professor Wu's laboratory focuses on the research of bioactive secondary metabolites of natural products, aiming at the development of botanical new drugs or single compound new drugs from natural products. The research materials include Formosan plants and endophytic fungi. Through field surveys, Formosan plants are collected, identified, and subjected to small-scale extractions to establish an extraction database. With bioactivity screening, bioactive plants were identified as potential targets for further research. Additionally, our laboratory has recently been studying the active components of endophytic fungi, using the concept of "one strain many compounds" (OSMAC) as exploration techniques to search for optimal fermentation conditions, bridging the gap between academia and industry. After we confirm the research target, the bioassay-guided fractionation method is employed to search for active leading compounds.

In Professor Wu's laboratory, you can learn the chemical techniques of natural product separation, such as thin-layer chromatography and column chromatography. You will also acquire skills in chemical structure identification, utilizing nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), infrared spectroscopy (IR), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV), Circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD), and specific rotation. The fermentation technology of fungi, including fungal isolation, purification, and exploration of fermentation conditions, is also covered.

Natural products have played a significant role in the history of human health and disease treatment, serving as the starting point for drug development. If you are interested in taking the first step in drug development or the aforementioned topics, we welcome you to join our team!