Current PhD Students

Dr. Jie Ban received her Ph.D. in Occupational and Environmental Health in 2021 from Peking University in China. Prior to her visit to Yale School of Public Health, she worked as a faculty in the National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center of Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) ever since 2013.Dr. Ban’s research mainly focuses on the health impact of air pollution and climate change in China. Her work involves investigating the association between human health outcomes and environmental factors, including air pollution, temperature, and extreme weather. She is also interested in the projection of future health risks related to air pollution and climate change by applying multidisciplinary approaches of epidemiology and environmental science.

Lingzhi Chu is a doctoral student in the Environmental Health Sciences Department at the Yale School of Public Health. Her research interests include characterizing risks to human health from weather exposure (e.g. temperature and humidity) with climate change. Lingzhi has a background in environmental science and engineering, climate change modeling and epidemiology, and she is also broadly interested in the interactive relationship between urbanization and climate change.

I am a 5th-year combined PhD candidate in the departments of Environmental Health Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health and Cellular & Molecular Physiology at the Yale School of Medicine. Broadly, I study the relationship between oxidative stress, the health of the pancreatic islet, and diabetes. Markers of oxidative stress, the imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and antioxidant defenses, are commonly detected in pre-diabetic and diabetic patients. Glutathione is the most abundant intracellular antioxidant and depletion causes oxidative stress. In islets, derived from diabetic patients, reduced glutathione biosynthesis has been associated with dysfunctional glucose metabolism and impaired insulin secretion. However, the regulation of islet cell metabolism and insulin secretion by glutathione remains insufficiently described. Specifically, I employ novel transgenic mouse models and mammalian cell culture systems to study the role of glutathione in islet physiology. To this end, my project seeks to determine the implications of glutathione depletion in the development and function of the islet by integrating classical molecular biology methodology with “omics” (metabolomics, redox proteomics) and allied mass spectrometry-based metabolic analysis. Thus far, we have determined that embryonic islet glutathione biosynthesis is essential for neonatal islet development and function (publication in process). These studies will help elucidate the complex mechanisms underpinning the role of oxidative stress in the development and progression of diabetes.

My research interests include per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), early-life exposures, birth cohort, maternal and child health.

Chengyi Lin is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health. She is interested in the health effects of air pollution. Her current project evaluates the association between ozone and mortality.

Xiuqi Ma is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut. Ms. Ma graduated from Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China, with a bachelor’s degree in medicine in 2019. Her undergraduate research focused on evaluation of environmental contaminants in the Yangtze River in Wuhan and associated reproductive health effects of metal pollutants among male residents. Now she is investigating ubiquitous environmental pollutants, such as PFAS and air pollution, and their association with liver cancer and other outcomes.

Yiqun Ma is a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Yale School of Public Health. She is interested in the intersection of climate change, air pollution, and human health, such as heat-related cause-specific mortality and the effects of air pollution on mental health. She also hopes to learn more about the exposure assessment of air pollution and air temperature. Yiqun holds a Bachelor of Management Sciences from Zhejiang University, China.

Yale MPH, class of 2021

Xiaoting Shi is a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. Her research and training focus on synthesizing evidence, conducting meta-research (i.e., research on research) projects, and applying causal inference methods in environmental epidemiology. In particular, she has developed an interest in and currently works on various research projects that: 1) synthesize and assess the evidence from literature, including systematic reviews, and umbrella reviews. 2) evaluate current publication practices, including evaluation of preprints, investigation of retracted publications, and estimation of publication fees. 3) conduct research on regulatory science, including evaluating regulatory policies by the US FDA and developing tools to facilitate real-world data to inform regulatory decision-making. Specifically, Xiaoting is part of the 2021-2022 CERSI Scholars Program to support regulatory science research that addresses the mission of the FDA. 4) utilize causal inference methods, including quantitative bias analysis and Mendelian randomization methods. As a graduate teaching fellow at Yale, she has taught multiple courses and led various online workshops on research skills training for master students. She is also passionate about gaining more teaching experience in the future. Before coming to Yale, Xiaoting received her Bachelor's Degree in Preventive Medicine with a minor in Statistics in 2019.

Yewei Wang is a 5th-year Ph.D. candidate in the department of Environmental Health Science at the Yale School of Public Health. She investigates the studies of DX metabolism and mechanisms underpinning DX toxicity and carcinogenicity as part of her dissertation project, especially the role of oxidative stress in DX-induced liver genotoxicity and carcinogenicity.

Jingyuan is a second-year PhD student in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. She holds a master's degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences from YSPH and completed her undergraduate studies in Psychology at UC, San Diego. Her current research interests center around the early origins of neuropsychiatric disorders and possible transmission of disease risks across multiple generations due to adverse intrauterine exposures.

Haoran is a doctoral student  in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. Her research interests center around the understanding of how environmental exposures during critical periods of early life development may affect the risk of health conditions in pregnancy complications, neonatal outcomes, and childhood neurodevelopment. With backgrounds of environmental science and engineering in her undergraduate study, Haoran is also interested in exposure related research like chemical mixtures and geospatial analysis.