Research Overview
A question runs through my research
How can we improve aquatic animal health and seafood quality while promoting sustainability?
To address this question, my research focuses on understanding and improving aquatic food quality, from aquaculture production to post-harvest preservation. I first examined how environmental conditions shape the health, metabolism, and product quality of aquatic animals. Building on these findings, I am now developing disease-prevention strategies, including PLGA-based oral delivery systems for antigens and immunostimulants derived from probiotics. On the post-harvest side, I characterized how processing and storage affect seafood freshness, biochemical composition, and flavor, and I am developing bio-based passive cooling materials to extend shelf life without energy-intensive refrigeration. Together, this work seeks to deliver safer, fresher, and more sustainably produced food from farm to table.
Linking the aquaculture environment to shellfish health and seafood quality
Shellfish are exposed to fluctuating temperature, salinity, and anthropogenic contaminants throughout culture, and these exposures can carry through to the biochemical composition, flavor, and safety profile of the harvested product. We use the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) and the thick-shell mussel (Mytilus coruscus) as model species to trace this pathway from environmental exposure to product quality.
What I work on
During my master's studies, my research focused on understanding how environmental factors, including temperature, salinity, and microplastic exposure, affected shellfish physiology, metabolism, biochemical composition, and flavor-related compounds. By integrating physiological measurements and biochemical assays with metabolomics, lipidomics, and protein expression analysis, I investigated the underlying metabolic responses and identified key pathways and potential biomarkers associated with environmental stress and changes in seafood quality.
Why it matters
Shellfish quality is shaped by environmental conditions long before harvest. Identifying the environmental stressors and metabolic pathways associated with changes in shellfish health and flavor can provide valuable insights for aquaculture site selection and culture management, while also informing efforts by inspectors and regulators to assess microplastic contamination in seafood.
Research topics
- Aquaculture environmental stressors
- Shellfish physiology and metabolism
- Flavor biochemistry
- Microplastic ecotoxicology
- Metabolomics
Feed-based delivery systems for aquatic animal health
Disease remains a major challenge in aquaculture, and feed-based delivery offers a practical approach to administering vaccines and functional supplements at farm scale. However, probiotics, immunostimulants, and antigens may lose their stability or biological activity during storage and passage through the digestive tract, limiting their effectiveness.
What I work on
Currently, I am developing PLGA-based oral delivery systems to encapsulate probiotics, antigens, and phytochemicals for coating on extruded aquafeeds. These systems are intended to protect the encapsulated cargo during storage and enable controlled release in the digestive tract. By integrating formulation design, physicochemical characterization, stability evaluation, release characterization, and in vivo evaluation, this work aims to support the development of feed-compatible oral vaccines and functional aquafeeds for sustainable aquaculture.
Why it matters
A feed-based oral delivery platform that protects bioactive cargo during feed storage and passage through the digestive tract could make vaccination and immunostimulation more practical at farm scale, particularly where injection is difficult. Such an approach could reduce handling stress and labor, support disease prevention with less reliance on treatments, and create opportunities for feed manufacturers to develop value-added functional aquafeeds.
Research topics
- Feed-based oral delivery systems
- Oral vaccines
- PLGA-based micro- and nanoparticles
- Controlled-release
- Functional aquafeeds
- Aquatic animal disease control
Bio-based passive cooling materials for energy-efficient cold chains
Refrigeration is the backbone of the cold chain, but it is energy-intensive and not always available at harvest sites, during short-distance transport, or in resource-limited settings. We are developing bio-based materials that use passive cooling mechanisms to support more sustainable thermal management of agricultural and aquatic foods and other perishable products.
What I work on
My doctoral research focuses on bio-based composite films that combine passive radiative cooling with evaporative cooling to achieve sub-ambient temperatures without external energy input. We aim to optimize cooling performance, water retention and release, and mechanical properties to meet the practical demands of food preservation and packaging. By harnessing renewable materials, we aim to provide sustainable, zero-energy cooling solutions for food packaging and cold-chain applications.
Why it matters
Passive cooling could complement conventional refrigeration by lowering energy demand and providing cooling where power is limited, helping reduce spoilage and post-harvest loss of perishables. For cold-chain operators, packaging companies, and food producers, it points to a low-energy, bio-based option for temperature control.
Research topics
- Passive radiative and evaporative cooling
- Bio-based composite films
- Food packages
- Food preservation
- Food cold-chain technologies
Evaluating the effects of postharvest preservation on seafood freshness and flavor quality
Between harvest and consumption, seafood may undergo depuration, live holding, freezing, storage, and transportation. These processes can affect physiological condition, biochemical composition, sensory quality, and shelf life. Understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms can help inform strategies to preserve seafood freshness, flavor, and overall quality.
What I work on
During my earlier studies, I also contributed to research projects exploring various postharvest preservation technologies for oysters and mussels, including depuration, liquid nitrogen rapid freezing, low-temperature semi-anhydrous live storage, and modified atmosphere packaging. Using physicochemical analyses and flavor profiling, we examined how different preservation conditions affected physiological status, biochemical composition, and flavor-related compounds, thereby identifying key factors that influence flavor and quality during postharvest storage.
Why it matters
Maintaining the freshness, flavor, and overall quality of shellfish throughout the supply chain is critical for both live and frozen products. Elucidating how different preservation strategies influence post-harvest physiological and biochemical changes can help processors and distributors optimize storage conditions, extend shelf life, and minimize post-harvest losses.
Research topics
- Seafood processing and preservation
- Shellfish flavor and quality
- Live storage
- Shelf-life extension
- Seafood sensory evaluation