Prof. Zhao engages in molecular nutrition and pharmacology research on functional components, especially in the nutritional evaluation and application of phytochemicals from marine plants. The research is focusing on aging and related complex diseases (diabetes, obesity, liver injury, gout, tumors, neurodegenerative diseases, etc.) and carrying out the molecular mechanisms using non-coding RNA and multiple omics technology.
He has served as the principal investigator for more than 30 projects which are supported by several foundations such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China. He has published more than 250 peer-reviewed papers including 140+ Science Citation Index ones as the first or corresponding author. He also has published 7 academic books and has made more than 20 invited talks at international conferences. He has authorized 45 patents (13 Transferred) and other 20 are in application. His contribution has been honored by more than 20 awards including the first batch of young top-notch talents in the "Young Eagle Program" of Fujian Province and the Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of Fujian Province and was featured among the cover stories of 2018 in the “Chemistry and Engineering News”. And he has been included in the years 2021-2024 list of the World’s Top 2% of Scientists, Wiley Outstanding Open Science Author of the Year 2022 and 2024. The total cited times of these papers are 9300+ with h index=54 (Google), and 7200+ with h index=51 (Scopus).