Dr. Xu Gao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences at Peking University since 2020. Dr. Gao received his bachelor's degree and M.Sc. from Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Following this, Dr. Gao pursued Ph.D. in epidemiology at Heidelberg University, Germany, successfully completing the program in 2018. Dr. Gao further received two years of postdoctoral training with Dr. Andrea Baccarelli at Columbia University, US.
As an environmental epidemiologist, he focuses on precision environmental health and human aging by integrating population-based data with genetic and epigenetic biomarkers as well as other multi-omic biomarkers. Dr. Gao has published 70+ peer-reviewed papers in journals of public health, including Nature Aging, Nature Communications, Nature Cardiovascular Research, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Environmental Health Perspectives, Environmental Science & Technology, International Journal of Epidemiology, and European Journal of Epidemiology. He also serves as the statistical editor of Thorax, on the editorial boards of Current Environmental Health Reports and The Innovation. He is leading and collaborating in several national and international funded projects including NSFC, National Key R&D Program of China, and China CDC.
Title of Talk: Linking environmental exposures to human health from the aging perspective
The global shift toward an older population and the dramatically increased aging pace across the globe have sparked a growing interest in ‘healthy aging’. Environmental exposures including air pollution and climate change have been associated with our cognitive function and mental health, but evidence for older adults is limited. Our research has revealed compelling connections between air pollution, a well-studied environmental hazard, and the elevated risks of cognitive decline and psychiatric disorders within cohorts of older adults. Further analyses have identified that accelerated biological aging is the key mechanism by which the environmental insults trigger these disorders. However, the biological mechanisms underlying this accelerated environmental aging process remain unclear. In this context, our epigenetic epidemiological studies demonstrated that DNA methylation, a key epigenetic modification, has opened new doorways to track individual-level environmental exposure and risks of aging-related health outcomes. Our findings indicate that DNA methylation as a valuable resource, could potentially serve as an improved identification tool for personalized strategies to prevent cognitive decline and mental health challenges in older adults to eventually foster healthy aging.
Time: Oct. 16th, 2025 12:00 PM Eastern Time
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