STUST Student team—including Yu-juan Tsai, Yin-shuan Huang, and Wan-yu Yan from the Department of Biology and Food Technology, Yi-an Huang from the Department of Business Administration, and PhD student Yi-chian Liu from the Institute of New Drug Research and Development, Taipei Medical University—won first place in the 2023 Startup Arena Competition, organized by National Taiwan Normal University. This competition, which has entered its fifth year, was held mainly to encourage student teams to come up with entrepreneurial plans and ideas, apply theoretical knowledge to entrepreneurship, and discover more potential young entrepreneurs through a nationwide recruitment activity.

【The Immunology and Pharmacology Laboratory of the Department of Biology and Food Technology, STUST, won first place in the Startup Arena Competition (From left to right): Director Zheng-hong Lin of the Normal University Incubation Center, Yi-an Huang from the Department of Business Administration, STUST, Yu-juan Tsai, Yin-shuan Huang, and Wan-yu Yan from the Department of Biology and Food Technology, and Distinguished Professor Jun-jie Chu from the doctoral program of new drug research and development at Taipei Medical University.】

With their work "An Innovative Special Dietary Nutritional Supplement Drink for Diabetic Nephropathy," the immunology and pharmacology laboratory team of STUST used chlorella peptides and bitter melon peptides as a low-protein nutritional supplement for patients with diabetic nephropathy. Coupled with complete business plans on future mass production and marketing as well as a presentation of the expected entrepreneurial process, the innovative ideas and implementation of their product was highly recognized.

【A group photo of the teams that advanced to the finals in the Startup Arena Competition】

The small peptides with special physiological activity of chlorella and bitter melon used in this award-winning product have been proven to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-renal insufficiency effects. If their product can be used as a nutritional supplement source or replacement part of a low-protein diet Protein (such as casein), it will be better than traditional low-protein or very low-protein diets in helping patients with kidney disease maintain better physiological functions and improve people's health and well-being. The award-winning students made thorough preparations in various aspects. Although the practice process was hard, everyone in the team felt a sense of accomplishment when they won the championship.

【Team member Yu-juan Tsai from STUST was giving an oral presentation in the competition.】

Jun-jie Chu, the award-winning distinguished professor of guidance at STUST, highly encouraged the students to use their expertise to develop entrepreneurial plans and ideas. He encouraged them to participate in various professional competitions and apply theoretical knowledge to entrepreneurship. The outstanding performance of the students this time has again proved the achievements of STUST's skills education and its ability to stimulate the students' potential. The students took intensive practice after class and during their vacation time to stand out from the preliminary rounds and successfully advance to the finals.