Dr. Hui-Kang Liu is currently an Associate Research Fellow at the National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, Ministry of Health and Welfare. He also serves as an Associate Professor in the Ph.D. Program for Clinical Drug Development of Herbal Medicine at Taipei Medical University. Dr. Liu obtained his graduate degrees and completed postdoctoral training in the UK, where he spent seven years. His primary research focus has been diabetes throughout his career. After returning to Taiwan to join the National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, he integrated his expertise in diabetes research with herbal medicine, establishing a new focus on developing herbal therapeutics for diabetes treatment.
Dr. Liu has been a mentor for several international internships funded by NSTC. One group of interns won a third place award in 2015 Taiwan Tech Trek.

Diabetes is a disease characterized by hyperglycemia, abnormal nutrient metabolism, and endocrine disorders due to insulin deficiency and/or insulin resistance. In Taiwan, the prevalence of diabetes was 4.5% in 2003. On the other hand, metabolic syndrome can be regarded as a risk factor for diabetes. Research focusing on interventions for both conditions could bring substantial benefits to the public.

We have recently established several representative animal models for insulin-dependent diabetes and type 2 diabetes. In addition, various cell models related to the regulation of glucose homeostasis have also been developed in our research laboratory. By employing these models, our goal is to generate an herbal-based formula for diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Furthermore, we plan to validate historical anti-diabetic TCM formulas using the same system. The ultimate objective is to establish an effective therapeutic strategy for diabetes and contribute to the globalization of TCM.

In addition to diabetes research, we collaborate with various research groups on a wide variety of projects, including Alzheimer's disease, insomnia, SARS-CoV-2 infection, and more.