Xin Wang, PhD, MPH

Research Assistant Professor, Epidemiology

Xin Wang, PhD, MPH, is a Research Investigator in the Department of Epidemiology. He received his PhD and MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan. With a strong foundation in environmental epidemiology, Dr. Wang is dedicated to exploring the impact of environmental exposures, such as metals and air pollution, on metabolic disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. His research objectives encompass three primary areas: (1) identifying environmental exposures as modifiable risk factors for aging-related diseases; (2) elucidating the mechanisms of these diseases connected to environmental exposures using biomarkers and metabolomic profiles; and (3) pinpointing susceptible populations at increased risk due to environmental exposures for more targeted disease prevention and intervention strategies. During his term as a M-LEEaD Center Scientist, with the mentorship of Dr. Kelly Bakulski, he will continue to investigate the effects of metals exposure on dementia risks and develop expertise in neurogenetics and gene-environment interaction.

Yue Zhao, PhD

Research Assistant Professor, Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics

Yue Zhao, PhD, MS, is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, and received her PhD from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Central Florida and a MS degree in Statistics from the University of Iowa. Dr. Zhao’s research is focused on developing and applying statistical methods of high-dimensional data integration to address impactful biomedical problems, and has experience in diverse areas like genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, CRISPR-based genetic screening, and third generation sequencing. As an M-LEEaD Center Scientist under the mentorship of Drs. Maureen Sartor, Eva Feldman, and Stephen Goutman, she will be investigating the impact of environmental pollutants on the epigenome and transcriptome of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, and exploring the mechanistic connections between environmental exposures, DNA methylome, RNA transcriptome, ALS risk, and clinical outcomes.

Rebeka (Bek) Petroff, PhD

AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow

Soundara Viveka Thangaraj, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Pediatrics

Rachel S. Bergmans, PhD, MPH

Research Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Chronic Pain and Fatigue

Simone Charles, PhD, MS

Clinical Associate Professor, Environmental Health Sciences

Sean Harris, PhD

Research Assistant Professor, Environmental Health Sciences

Kai Wang, PhD (wangdaha@umich.edu)

Postdoctoral Fellow, Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics

Carina Gronlund, PhD

Research Assistant Professor, Social Environment and Health Program, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

Laurie Svoboda, PhD

Assistant Professor, Environmental Health Sciences

Deborah Watkins, PhD

Associate Professor, Environmental Health Sciences