Tuesday, October 9
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
On Zoom
Reducing Air Pollution Disease Burdens through Policy and Personal Protections
By Junfeng (Jim) Zhang, Nicholas School of the Environment & Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
Abstract
Air pollution contributes largely to global burden of disease, with outdoor air pollution alone responsible for approximately 5 million premature deaths each year worldwide. However, the majority of the disease burden is contributed from countries and regions with high population density and high level of air pollution. In this lecture, Prof. Zhang will provide a contemporary snap shot of air pollution exposure and disease burden across the globe. He will show scientific evidence supporting the substantial health benefits brought by clean air policies in Western countries over the past decades.
He will then speak about his recent work on personal-level exposure-reduction interventions to alleviate the adverse health effects, especially in vulnerable and biologically susceptible individuals. Throughout the presentation, he will discuss the relevance to certain unique exposure conditions in Saudi Arabia.
About the speaker
Jim Zhang is Professor of Global and Environmental Health at Duke University. Prof. Zhang has integrated clinical research, exposure science, toxicology, and epidemiology to examine health effects and underlying biological mechanisms of air pollution exposure. Recently, he has been evaluating the effectiveness of indoor air purification interventions in improving health outcomes in people with and without existing diseases. Dr. Zhang co-authored more than 300 peer-reviewed articles in medical journals and environmental science journals. He received a MSc degree in atmospheric chemistry from Peking University, a MSc degree in Environmental Sciences and a PhD degree in Environmental Sciences and Public Health from Rutgers University. Dr. Zhang is an officially recognized contributor to the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the IPCC.
In 2012, Dr. Zhang received the Jerome Wesolowski Award, the highest honor of the International Society of Exposure Science. In 2013, Dr. Zhang was named an AAAS Fellow.