WONDERLAB Partners with CIFST to Establish a Dedicated Research Fund, Advancing High-Quality Development of the Probiotics Industry through Industry–Academia–Research Collaboration

At the symposium, WONDERLAB invited leading experts, including Professor Shuangjiang Liu, Distinguished Professor at Shandong University; Professor Jiachao Zhang of the College of Food Science and Engineering at Hainan University; Dr. Tong Zhang of Guangzhou First People’s Hospital; and Professor Zhigang Liu of Fudan University’s Institute of Nutrition. They held in-depth discussions on frontier areas including the gut–brain axis, emotional health, and metabolic management, and shared the latest research findings on the core strains in the GOLDGUT® series. WONDERLAB also set up a product exhibition area, where many participating experts and scholars exchanged views with the company’s research team.

Research-Led Design: The WONDERLAB Young Fund Supports Innovation and Translation

Sustainable development of the microbiome health industry depends on a solid research foundation and effective mechanisms for translating results. At this themed session, CIFST and WONDERLAB formally launched and signed the agreement for the CIFST Food Science and Technology Special Fund—WONDERLAB Young Fund for Microbiome and Nutritional Health Science and Technology.

The WONDERLAB Young Fund is designed to connect industry, academia, and research resources; focus on frontier technology development and the translation of innovations in nutrition and health foods; and build a complete “research–application–industrialization” pathway through deeper collaboration. Its aim is to support continuing innovation and high-quality development across the food industry. The fund has a strongly targeted, application-oriented scope, supporting precision screening of specific probiotic strains and research into intervention mechanisms, AI-assisted prediction models for probiotics and prebiotics, and the development and application of postbiotic technologies.

Notably, the WONDERLAB Young Fund uses “application-based evidence and clinical value” as a central benchmark, focusing on the key technical links between laboratory findings and end products. This positioning reflects WONDERLAB’s understanding of the industry’s development needs and signals its commitment to empowering the broader sector through an open approach, while supporting a more scientific and standardized microbiome health industry.

Deepening Industry–Academia–Research Collaboration and Building a Strong Scientific Foundation

Clear innovation goals require deep research capabilities and a broad industrial ecosystem. WONDERLAB has long maintained a science- and evidence-based foundation, establishing sustained industry–academia–research collaborations with leading research institutions, universities, and major clinical hospitals in China. This long-term engagement with the academic community enables the company to draw on cross-disciplinary expertise and bring together leading experts, as demonstrated at this themed session.

During the academic presentations, the latest findings shared by several experts further illustrated WONDERLAB’s multidimensional research program. Professor Shuangjiang Liu presented his team’s latest progress in strain-function discovery. The team isolated Limosilactobacillus reuteri GOLDGUT-LR99 from the intestinal tract of healthy individuals and found that it has strong acid and bile-salt tolerance and produces butyrate. The research reported that the strain can help inhibit excessive activation of the HPA axis and support the intestinal barrier, thereby alleviating anxiety and cognitive impairment associated with stress and sleep deprivation.

Professor Zhigang Liu also discussed next-generation probiotics inspired by dietary rhythms, highlighting the roles of Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum and propionate metabolites in reducing neuroinflammation and improving cognitive function. Dr. Tong Zhang examined inter-organ neural circuits and described a new mechanism through which metabolites secreted by the small intestine may suppress appetite via gut–brain-axis signaling.

These interdisciplinary findings converged with WONDERLAB’s Targeted Microbiome Management approach, outlining a research map that spans strain-resource discovery, neural regulation, and precision nutrition.

Three Core Directions to Accelerate the Translation of Biotechnology into Health Applications

Building on the scientific foundation created by its industry–academia–research network, the WONDERLAB Young Fund uses clearly defined research priorities to accelerate the transition from scientific findings to clinical and industrial value. The fund focuses on microbiome and nutritional health and will invest RMB 1.5 million in 2026. Applications are open nationwide to young researchers under 40.

The fund will support application-oriented basic research in three areas. First, precision screening of specific probiotic strains and investigation of intervention mechanisms, including randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trials related to metabolic diseases and emotional health, as well as screening for specific strains relevant to cancer immunotherapy. Second, development of AI-assisted prediction models for probiotics and prebiotics to enable precise matching and synergistic effects between functional strains and prebiotics. Third, process development and applications for postbiotics, including lipoteichoic acid, extracellular vesicles, and new antimicrobial peptides.

This rigorous approach—using research topics to drive translation and proprietary strains to build capabilities—has already produced results through WONDERLAB’s core patented strains. At the symposium, Professor Jiachao Zhang presented evidence on the multifaceted functions of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum GOLDGUT-HNU082. As a WONDERLAB proprietary patented strain, it has shown potential in targeted gut–brain-axis applications for emotional and metabolic concerns. The research reported that it can downregulate pro-inflammatory factors, support the intestinal mucosal barrier, improve gut health, lower blood lipid indicators, and reduce fat accumulation in multiple areas of the body. It was also reported to support the synthesis of neurotransmitters, helping address the “emotion–obesity” cycle observed in high-stress populations.

This industry–academia–research work has now delivered a key innovation: Lactiplantibacillus plantarum GOLDGUT-HNU082 has been formally incorporated as a core patented strain in WONDERLAB’s new EASY100 PRO™ probiotic product for emotional and metabolic health.

China’s probiotics industry is currently at a pivotal stage of high-quality transformation, and the 15th Five-Year Plan calls for innovation-driven development of the health industry. As a Chinese biotechnology company dedicated to the microbiome, WONDERLAB is using an open, collaborative industry–academia–research system as its foundation and the Young Fund as an accelerator, supporting continued translation from clinical research data to accessible precision-nutrition solutions.