Shanghai, September 23, 2025– A delegation led by Fabio Campanile, Global Head of Science & Technology, Taste & Wellbeing at Givaudan, the world’s largest flavor and fragrance company, visited Professor Lujia Zhang’s research group at East China Normal University for an academic exchange. The visiting guests included Fabio Campanile (Givaudan Taste & Wellbeing Global Head of Science & Technology) and Ai Mey Chuah (APAC Science & Technology Director).Founded in the mid-19th century, Givaudan (Switzerland) is a global leader in the flavor and fragrance industry, with operations in more than 40 countries. The company specializes in the research, development, production, and marketing of flavors, fragrances, and aroma ingredients. With eight global research centers and over a hundred perfumers, Givaudan’s products are widely applied in food, beverages, tobacco, and other sectors.This visit was aimed at promoting cutting-edge scientific research on flavors and fragrances as well as fostering deeper collaboration in the field of food and wellbeing.
During the exchange, Prof. Zhang presented the group’s latest research progress in Enzyme Engineering and Computationally Driven Rational Design, Functional Processing of Key Agricultural Products, Flavor Compound Research. He also highlighted the team’s achievements in molecular simulation, catalytic mechanism elucidation, and the development of large-scale databases for flavor molecules.
The delegation toured the laboratories and high-performance computing facilities, gaining insights into the group’s work on molecular dynamics simulations, data-driven flavor science, and industrial applications. At the computing center, discussions focused on the role of high-performance computing in modeling and simulating flavor-related molecules.
In the subsequent roundtable, the two sides held in-depth discussions on umami protease research, molecular mechanisms of flavor compounds, and AI-powered future food design. Fabio Campanile praised the breakthroughs made by Prof. Zhang’s group in protein design and biomimetic food materials, emphasizing that the visit lays a solid foundation for further collaboration between Givaudan and East China Normal University.
This visit not only strengthened the ties between Givaudan and East China Normal University in the fields of food science and flavor research, but also created new opportunities to drive synergy between academia and industry.
