Farsighted, Tu chose three topics of research closely connected to Taiwan: traditional Chinese medicines, opium addiction, and poisonous snake serums. The results of his research into snake serums won some prestigious awards for homegrown Taiwanese research.
具有遠見的杜聰明選擇了台灣獨具優勢的中藥、鴉片癮戒毒及蛇毒三項主題，結果蛇毒研究成功地為台灣本土科學史開創出輝煌紀錄。