[Interview with "Food Scientist"] Professor Wang Zhao, Director of the Institute of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Tsinghua University

In order to show the scientific research experience and intelligent life of food scientists, "Food Science" magazine opened an exclusive column for "Food Scientists"
.

Today’s interview person is Professor Wang Zhao, director of the Institute of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Tsinghua University and School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University

Personal profile

Professor Wang Zhao is currently the director of the Institute of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Tsinghua University, and a double-appointed professor at the School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University
.

Professor Wang Zhao used to be Assistant to the Dean of Research Institute of Tsinghua University

"Food Science": Your main research direction is the biology and pharmacology of aging, especially the molecular and cellular pharmacology of aging and the mechanism of drug intervention in aging, as well as the research of neurological and metabolic pharmacology and the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine
.

What is the significance of this research direction? What prompted you to choose this direction?

Professor Wang: Like good love, aging and longevity have always been the eternal topic of our human beings
.

Faced with aging, love has the pursuit of longevity

"Food Science": What are the bottlenecks in the current development of this research direction and the direction that needs to be worked hard in the future?

Professor Wang: Looking at the country's big platform, I really don't see any unique bottlenecks in aging research
.

Aging and anti-aging research is a multi-field, multi-disciplinary research, related to many disciplines such as medicine, life sciences, engineering, machinery, health and medical equipment, etc.

"Food Science": Do you have any suggestions for a reasonable diet and anti-aging?

Professor Wang: Although we cannot completely prevent aging, nor can it completely reverse aging, through the optimization and adjustment of dietary habits and life>
.

There are countless research papers and monographs on the effects of diet on aging and longevity, and there are even too many to know what to do

"Food Science": The first time you published an article in "Food Science" was in 2002.
Now 20 years have passed.
Could you please talk about your feelings about the development of "Food Science" in the past 20 years?

Professor Wang: It has been 20 years since the article "Analysis of Nutritional Components in Different Parts of Figs" was published in Food Science in 2002! From the author to the reviewer to the editorial board, the relationship with your journal is getting deeper and deeper
.

For some time, due to the shift of research direction, the focus on food science was far away.

"Food Science": What kind of research do you think is the most meaningful and valuable? Do you have any tips and suggestions on how to publish high-level articles?

Professor Wang: I just said that while making contributions to society and mankind while realizing personal value, such research is definitely meaningful
.

Of course, this kind of contribution may be short-term or long-term, it may be measurable or unmeasured, it may be directly related to the people, or it may be needed by the country and the nation, as long as it is beneficial to the national economy and the people’s livelihood.

"Food Science": You got a bachelor's degree in medicine, a master's degree in medicine, a master's degree in pharmacy, and a doctorate in pharmacy.
During the course of your studies, why did you switch from medicine to the research direction of pharmacy?

Professor Wang: The transition from medicine to pharmacy was purely accidental
.

When studying abroad, there are more requirements for applying for medical courses, so I applied to a school of pharmacy that is relatively easy to apply
.
But in the School of Pharmacy, I was still engaged in biopharmaceutics (pharmacokinetics), which is most closely related to medicine.
After obtaining my Ph.
D.
, I went back to the Pharmacology Laboratory of the School of Medicine as a postdoc and stayed on as a teacher
.
In fact, it's a pity that, except for pharmacology, especially pharmacokinetics, I basically don't know anything about major pharmacy (such as medicinal chemistry, drug analysis, etc.
)
.

"Food Science": You have studied and worked at Okayama National University in Japan for 10 years.
What was your biggest feeling during your study in Japan? Can you share some interesting things?

Professor Wang: I studied abroad more than 30 years ago.
At that time, the gap between China and developed countries in all aspects was still relatively large
.
I was in Japan at the time.
After I got there, I didn't feel a lot of disobedience.
I just felt that a mature society should be like that
.
Of course, it seems that Okayama has fallen behind a bit now, at least on the surface, Beijing and Shanghai have surpassed Tokyo and Osaka in many aspects
.
The Okayama University where I work is a national university with a long history (mainly the Faculty of Medicine).
At that time, I didn't know much about the modern scientific research system and norms.
Everything was very fresh, and everything had to be started from scratch
.
Attention (observation, learning) and diligence (hard work, hard work) are definitely needed.
I quickly adapted and integrated into the laboratory and subject research
.
God lived up to the painstaking efforts.
The hard work has yielded fruitful results.
The instructor was also very pleased.
He encouraged and helped me to apply for a scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (almost the highest scholarship for international students at the time), which made me a self-financed scholarship.
The international student becomes an international student with a national scholarship, which solves the problems of life and tuition, so that he can devote more time to study and scientific research
.
After successfully obtaining my Ph.
D.
, I transferred to the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Okayama University, as a post-doctoral researcher (foreigner special researcher).
As the work progressed smoothly, I soon stayed at the school and became an Assistant instructor at Okayama University in Japan.
Professor)
.
After that, he returned to China as an introduced talent to work in Tsinghua University
.
Japan has been the longest-lived country in the world for decades.
From my personal observations and feelings, there may be several reasons
.
One is to eat less
.
The Japanese never eat too much, and they are basically half hungry
.
When I first came to Okayama University and entered the laboratory, I thought that Japanese people had a small appetite.
Later, there was a dinner party with the AA system where everyone's expenses were shared.
As a result, I found that students who usually have small appetites can actually eat it! I know they haven't eaten enough every day
.
A classmate was rich at home.
He just bought a new car and it crashed.
He didn’t dare to tell his family that he borrowed money to repair the car.
But after eating rice balls for half a year, he saved a fortune from his living expenses.
Money came to pay off the debt
.
Of course, ordinary Japanese recipes are also healthier.
There is a combination of meat and vegetables, fish every day (island country), relatively many fermented foods, and more vegetables to be eaten raw.
In addition to sashimi (sashimi), which is famous, beef and horse meat (し) They are also eaten raw
.
Even pour some tea into the rice and sprinkle a little salt (おけ), which is considered a meal
.
Japanese cuisine generally has less oil and water.
When the Chinese students first went there, they would not have enough to eat, or they would feel full, and then they would be hungry again
.
Second, wear less
.
Although the winter in Okayama is not so cold, it will snow
.
But elementary school uniforms only have shorts (boys) or skirts (girls), but no trousers
.
The children’s legs were blue from the cold, and when they asked, "Is it cold", they all said it was not cold! Indeed, those children rarely have colds and fevers
.
Just after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the students in the laboratory dragged out the gas heater and used them, wearing shorts and grilling them on the stove.
They were never willing to add an extra piece of clothing to their bodies.
Only the feet would always be those short boots whether in winter or summer.

.
Third, I prefer bathing instead of showering
.
Therefore, old-fashioned Japanese people have bathtubs in their homes, but few have shower heads
.
Chinese students who have just arrived to rent a house, feel that they usually just take a shower.
At the beginning they are looking for a house with only a shower head.
In fact, this kind of house (called "Western->
.
In fact, in the past, Japanese people rarely had showers in their homes, but even the dilapidated houses would have bathtubs
.
Fourth, sleep on tatami mats
.
From the movies and TV series, we can see that Japanese people generally don’t have a bed for sleeping in their homes.
The bedding is pulled out from the closet (しれ) at night and laid directly on the straw mat (たたみ) and fell asleep. .
Tatami is certainly not as soft and soft as Simmons, but the natural material (woven of rush) has good air permeability, which is more beneficial to fatigue recovery and health.
It is warm in winter and cool in summer, not so dry in winter and not so wet in summer, and more or less natural adjustment Some winter and summer temperature and humidity
.
Many old-fashioned Japanese old men and old ladies are not used to sleeping in bed, so that they have to drag the Simmons cushion on the hotel bed to the ground to sleep when they travel to stay in a hotel.
Are they afraid of falling off the bed when they fall asleep? Fifth, reduce accidental injuries
.
Compared with other countries such as Europe and the United States, Japan has very few accidental fatalities, such as car accidents, extreme sports, shootings, drug abuse, etc.
, coupled with advanced and complete medical assistance system and extremely low infant and child mortality, making Japan's average life expectancy again in 2018 A record high, 87.
32 years old for women and 81.
25 years old for men
.
The above points have all contributed to Japan as the world's longest-lived country
.

"Food Science": After Tsinghua University abolished the requirement to publish a dissertation for doctoral graduates, what new indicators and methods are there for students' ability evaluation?

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"Food Science": What do you think is the most important thing to do well in scientific research? Please give some suggestions to young scientific research workers and professional graduate students
.

Professor Wang: How to do a good job in scientific research should be made by the person who has done the best and most outstanding in scientific research
.
There are many people who do better than me, especially young people nowadays.
In fact, I shouldn't say anything more here
.
I have some experience at best
.
When talking about what kind of research is the most meaningful and valuable, we have already exchanged it.
This kind of research must be meaningful while making contributions to society and mankind while realizing personal value
.
Tsinghua University requires all professors to be class teachers, so I received training for undergraduate class teachers from Tsinghua University many years ago.
I almost forgot the specific content, but there is one thing I always keep in mind, which is to guide students to establish " "Indomitable" thinking
.
The so-called "top of the sky" means to have lofty ideals, to build personal ideals on the level of the nation, the country and even the entire human race, and to build one’s own scientific research on the basis of the country’s major needs and the national economy and the people’s livelihood.
Layout; the so-called "site" means to work on the ground, starting from the most basic work, accumulate every inch, and build up one's arms.
As long as you persevere and don't give up, you will definitely make your own for the family, the country, and the community.
Contribute to this lifetime
.