Dr Daniel Liang-Dar Hwang is an ARC DECRA Fellow at the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience and an Affiliated Scientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center (USA). He is a genetic epidemiologist whose research focuses on sensory nutrition—understanding how genetic and environmental differences in taste and smell shape dietary behaviours and influence health across the lifespan. His work combines large-scale biobank analyses with novel statistical methods to investigate causal pathways linking sensory perception, diet, and disease.

Dr Hwang completed a B.Sc. in Biochemistry at National Taiwan University, an M.Biotech at the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.Sc. in Nutrition at the University of Washington before earning his PhD in Genetic Epidemiology at QIMR Berghofer. He subsequently trained as a postdoctoral researcher in statistical genetics at UQ’s Frazer Institute.

He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers, with findings cited in international health policy guidelines (including a WHO report on childhood obesity prevention) and in patents for personalised wine selection and olfaction assessment. His methodological contributions include new approaches for gene discovery, intergenerational causal modelling, and personalised dietary intervention design. He also collaborates with clinicians to study chemosensory impairment in cancer patients and COVID-19, and currently leads an international project on the impact of vaccination on long-COVID.

Beyond research, Dr Hwang serves on the editorial boards of BMC Medicine and Twin Research and Human Genetics, and on the Leadership Team of the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research. He is also a member of the National Committee for Nutrition of the Australian Academy of Science, contributing to the implementation of Australia’s Decadal Plan for the Science of Nutrition.