Postdoctoral Fellow News

Xinan Wang recently published her research “Association of High Tumor Mutation Burden in Non–Small Cell Lung Cancers With Increased Immune Infiltration and Improved Clinical Outcomes of PD-L1 Blockade Across PD-L1 Expression Levels”  in JAMA Oncology. “A large multi-center retrospective study was conducted in 1552 NSCLC patients treated with ICI, and a high number of nonsynonymous tumor mutations is associated with immune cell infiltration and inflammatory T-cell expression signatures, leading to increased sensitivity to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibition across PD-L1 expression subgroups.”

Xinan ‘s abstract, Impact of individual level uncertainty of lung cancer PRS on risk stratification and prediction, was selected for the platform oral presentation at the upcoming American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2022 annual meeting in Los Angeles from 10/25-10/29.

Postdoctoral Fellow Anna Young was first author in the Environment International Journal article ‘Chemical contaminant exposures assessed using silicone wristbands among occupants in office buildings in the U.S , UK, China, and India’. The research evaluated exposures to 99 chemicals in urban office buildings in the USA, UK, China, and India using silicone wristbands worn by 251 participants while they were at work and found substantial country differences in chemical exposures and continued exposures to legacy phased-out chemicals and their substitutes in buildings

Postdoctoral Fellow Fan-Yun Lan was the first author in the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise Journal article “The Effects of Fire Academy Training and Probationary Firefighter Status on Select Basic Health and Fitness Measurements” their research aimed to investigate changes in firefighter recruits’ select health and fitness measurements, from academy training to the early probationary firefighter period.

Research Fellow Ernani Choma and co-authors John S. Evans, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Health, José A. Gómez-Ibáñez, Derek Bok Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy, Emeritus, Qian Di, Doctoral Student, Joel Schwartz, Professor of Environmental Epidemiology, Jim Hammitt, Professor of Economics and Decision Sciences and Jack Spengler , Akira Yamaguchi Professor of Environmental Health and Human Habitation, for their PNAS article: Health benefits of decreases in on-road transportation emissions in the United States from 2008 to 2017 featured in the Associated Press story Vehicle emission declines decreased deaths and Popular Science story Better vehicle emissions standards may have saved thousands of Americans. The article quantifies the number of lives and dollars saved by instituting policies that result in significantly decreasing the number of PM2.5-attributable deaths.

Postdoctoral Fellow Yang Sun was first author in the European Respiratory journal article “Association of blood trihalomethane concentrations with asthma in U.S. adolescents: nationally representative cross-sectional study”. The article explores the associations between blood trihalomethane (THM) concentrations and asthma among U.S. adolescents and assess to what extent the association is modified by active tobacco smoke exposure and that Exposure to THMs is associated with a greater risk of asthma in adolescents, particularly among those exposed to tobacco smoke.

Postdoctoral Fellow Yagugang Wei was first author in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Journal article “Air Pollutants and Asthma Hospitalization in the Medicaid Population” The research assessed the effects of short-term exposures to fine particulate matter (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of ⩽2.5 μm [PM2.5]), warm-season ozone (O3), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) on risk of asthma hospitalization among national Medicaid beneficiaries, the most disadvantaged population in the U.S., and to test whether any subpopulations were at higher risk and concluded that short-term air pollutant exposures increased risk of asthma hospitalization among Medicaid beneficiaries, even at concentrations well below national standards. The subgroup differences suggested individual and contextual factors contributed to asthma disparities under effects of air pollutant exposures.