Charles (Chun) Hu, Principal Research Scientist
Plant Ingredient Development
Amway/Nutrilite, California

I’m so grateful and honored to be nominated as a candidate for the Council of the International Carotenoid Society. I look forward to contributing to this organization and community where researchers around the globe can share, collaborate, and ultimately advance carotenoid knowledge to benefit the world. 

I’m new to ICS this year but not new to carotenoids. I started research life after obtained my Ph.D. degree in food science from Jiangnan University of China, followed by post-doc training in Food, Health and Nutrition program at University of British Columbia, with a focus on the health benefits of natural compounds, particularly those derived from fruit, vegetables, botanicals, and algae.  I have always been amazed by the colorful natural compounds in my academic and industrial research life, which allowed me to authorize 50 journal publications, ten book chapters, and several patents. During the last few years, I have been fortunate to participate in projects focusing on carotenoids derived from natural sources.  This work evaluated how these compounds can be absorbed and positively impact consumer health through in vitro models and clinical evaluation. The results enabled us to design, develop and commercialize nutrition products substantiated by solid science, and I was able to share our findings at the recent Virtual International Conference on Carotenoids. This event was truly an eye-opening experience for me to learn of the very diversified research topics from many ICS members presenting from different countries.  The active Q&A sessions made me feel this is a platform that researchers around the world can exchange ideas and answer scientific questions regardless of geographic location. Therefore, I’m motivated to seek an opportunity to contribute to this organization. 

As a scientist working in the Nutrition industry, I want to contribute to ICS by bridging between academic research and industry leveraging my working experience in both Asia and North America, supporting the translation of science to products, and working together with other fellow Council members and the leadership team to build a stronger collaborative platform and empower every ICS member to advance science and technology in the field of carotenoids.  I certainly hope I can gain the ICS member’s trust and vote to allow me to serve on the ICS Council in the coming years.