Dr. Junshi Chen was graduated from the Beijing Medical College in 1956 and engaged in nutrition and food safety research for more than 50 years at the Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (the former Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine), Beijing. Since 2011, he took the position of Senior Research Professor at the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment.
He has conducted large epidemiologic studies on diet, nutrition and chronic diseases, in collaboration with Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Cornell University and Prof. Richard Peto, University of Oxford since 1983. From late 1980's, he conducted a series of studies on the protective effects of tea on cancer, including laboratory study and human intervention trials. He is the member of the expert panel who wrote the WCRF/AICR report “Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective” (1997). Recently, he was appointed as the Chair of the Chinese National Expert Committee for Food Safety Risk Assessment and the Vice-Chair of the National Food Safety Standard Reviewing Committee. Internationally, he serves as the chairperson of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA), member of the WHO Food Safety Expert Panel and Director of ILSI (International Life Sciences Institute) Focal Point in China.
Dr. Chen's research interests focus on nutrition epidemiology as well as food safety surveillance and risk assessment in the following areas:
(1) Relationship between diet, nutrition and non-communicable diseases in different geographical areas and population groups in China.
(2) Food fortification.
(3) Studies on the protective effect of edible plant (tea, vegetables, fruits, etc.) components on cancer formation with special emphasis on biomarkers and human intervention trial.
(4) Total Diet Study in China