Prof. Xu received his PhD from Chungnam National University, South Korea in 2005. He conducted postdoctoral research work at North Dakota State University (NDSU), Purdue University, and the Gerald P. Murphy Cancer Foundation in the USA from 2005 to 2009. He did short-term visiting research at NDSU in 2012 and the University of Georgia in 2014, followed by visiting research during his sabbatical leave (7 months) at Pennsylvania State University in the USA in 2016.
Prof. Xu joined BNBU in 2009 as Assistant Professor. He was promoted as Associate Professor and Professor in 2013 and 2015, respectively. He was promoted to Chair Professor in 2022. He was appointed as Program Director of Food Science Program in 2018, Department Head of Life Sciences in 2022, and Associate Dean of Faculty of Science and Technology in 2026.
Prof. Xu is serving as Associate Editor-in-Chief of Food Science and Human Wellness, Associate Editor of Food Frontiers, and Guest Editor for special issues of Antioxidants, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Nutrients, and the Editorial Board member of around 10 international journals.
Prof. Xu is author of over 400 peer-reviewed SCI papers. He received over 31300 citations with h-index of 91 and i10-index of 328. He secured a few national and provincial research grants. He was elected as a Zhuhai Scholar Distinguished Professor in 2015. He received the inaugural President’s Award for Outstanding Research at the BNBU in 2016 and the President’s Award for Outstanding Service at the BNBU in 2020. He has been listed as one of the world's top 2% scientists by Stanford University for the past six consecutive years and has been listed as the Best Scientist in the world in the field of Biology and Biochemistry at Research.com for the past four consecutive years. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) in 2023 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB) in 2026. He was awarded as a Chartered Chemist (CChem) in 2026.
