Date: November 10, 2008 (Monday)
Time: 12:30 – 14:00 (sandwich lunch from 12:30 –12:45; seminar begins at 12:45)
Venue: Seminar Room 7, LG-1/F, Laboratory Block, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

Abstract:
Air pollution contributes substantially to the global burden of diseases. Exactly how air pollution affects human health is poorly understood. This presentation will discuss several prominently hypothesized mechanisms of particulate air pollution, focusing on two 'real-world' human studies, one in London, UK and the other in Beijing, China.

Bio-sketch:
Dr Jim Zhang is currently Professor and Chairman of Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). He is a member of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI) jointly sponsored by UMDNJ and Rutgers-the State University of New Jersey. He is also on the graduate faculty of Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology at UMDNJ and Rutgers. He is also a graduate faculty member of Environmental Sciences Program at Rutgers University. Dr Zhang is a member of New Jersey Cancer Institute and a guest professor at Peking University in Beijing, China.

Dr. Zhang has been Principal Investigator or co-investigators on 38 research projects. He has served on numerous grant review panels nationally and internationally. He serves as a member of New Jersey Clean Air Council – an advisory body to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. His research interests include assessing human exposures to environmental contaminants and resulting health effects; developing and validating biological markers of contaminant exposure and health effects; examining gene-environment interactions; examining health effects of urban air pollution, especially particulate matter from diesel-powered vehicles, in healthy and more susceptible populations (e.g., asthmatics, children, and the elderly); assessing health risks associated with household use of biomass and coal fuels in developing countries; and developing novel and sensitive methods to measure trace-level toxic chemicals present in air, food, water, dust and biological specimens. He has co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and technical reports.

Dr. Zhang received a BS in Applied Chemistry and a MS in Atmospheric Chemistry from Peking University. He received a MS in Environmental Sciences from Rutgers University and a PhD in Public Health and Environmental Sciences jointly from Rutgers University and UMDNJ.

Presentation file