Donghai Liang
Asst Professor
Assistant Professor
Faculty, Environmental Health
Jointly Appointed, Epidemiology

My research focuses on health effects associated with air pollution and persistent organic pollutant using exposure assessment and high-resolution metabolomics. I am particularly interested in measuring multi-dimensional exposures and elucidating the molecular mechanisms accounting for the complex health responses to environmental mixtures. This has involved extensive, primary field-based data collection, as well as laboratory-based analyses. More recently, I have shifted majority of my effort toward incorporating high resolution metabolomics and multi-omics into the investigations on the molecular mechanisms and disease etiology associated with environmental exposures.
For a full list of up to date publications, visit my Google Scholars page. For information on the ongoing projects in my research group, please visit the Environmental Metabolomics and Exposomics Research Group at Emory (EMERGE) website.
Contact Information
1518 Clifton Rd. NE
Atlanta , GA 30322
Phone: (404)712-9583
Fax: (404) 727-8744
Email: donghai.liang@emory.edu
Areas of Interest
- Air Pollution
- Biomarkers
- Data Science
- Exposome
- Exposure Assessment
- Maternal and Child Health
Education
- B.S. 2012, Peking University
- M.P.H. 2014, Yale University
- Ph.D. 2018, Emory University
Courses Taught
- EH 515: Air Quality in the Urban Env.
Affiliations & Activities
Secretary, Board of Directors, International Society of Exposure Science
Academic Councilor, Board of Directors, International Society of Exposure Science
Co-chair, International Society of Exposure Science Diversity Committee
Chair, Travel Award Committee on the Annual Meeting of the International Society of Exposure Science
Member, HERCULES Exposome Research Center
Member, Emory's Children's Health Exposure Analysis Resource (CHEAR) Laboratory Hub
Selected Media Coverage on Research Projects:
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Urban air pollution may make COVID-19 more severe for some, Science Daily
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Tackling NO2 from All Sources to Help Fight COVID-19, Rocky Mountain Institute
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Does Your Commute Impact Your Health? Environmental Protection Agency Research Highlight
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Using High-Resolution Metabolomics To Study The Effects Of Air Traffic Pollution, Science Trends
Publications
- Che-Jung Chang, Dana Boyd Barr, P Barry Ryan, Parinya Panuwet, Melissa M Smarr, Ken Liu, Kurunthachalam Kannan, Volha Yakimavets, Youran Tan, ViLinh Ly, Carmen J Marsit, Dean P Jones, Elizabeth J Corwin, Anne L Dunlop, Donghai Liang, 2022, Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure, maternal metabolomic perturbation, and fetal growth in African American women: a meet-in-the-middle approach, Environment International, ,
- Ziyin Tang, Jeremy A. Sarnat, Rodney J. Weber, Armistead G. Russell, Xiaoyue Zhang, Zhenjiang Li, Tianwei Yu, Dean P. Jones, and Donghai Liang, 2022, The Oxidative Potential of Fine Particulate Matter and Biological Perturbations in Human Plasma and Saliva Metabolome, Environmental Science & Technology, ,
- Xiaoyue Zhang, Dana Boyd Barr, Anne L Dunlop, Parinya Panuwet, Jeremy A Sarnat, Grace E Lee, Youran Tan, Elizabeth J Corwin, Dean P Jones, P Barry Ryan, Donghai Liang, 2021, Assessment of metabolic perturbations associated with exposure to phthalates among pregnant African American women, Science of The Total Environment, ,
- Donghai Liang, Wan-Chen Lee, Jiawen Liao, Joy Lawrence, Jack M Wolfson, Stefanie T Ebelt, Choong-Min Kang, Petros Koutrakis, Jeremy A Sarnat, 2021, Estimating Climate Change-Related Impacts on Outdoor Air Pollution Infiltration, Environmental Research, 196, 110923
- Youran Tan, Dana Boyd Barr, P Barry Ryan, Veronika Fedirko, Jeremy A Sarnat, Audrey J Gaskins, Che-Jung Chang, Ziyin Tang, Carmen J Marsit, Elizabeth J Corwin, Dean P Jones, Anne L Dunlop, Donghai Liang, 2021, High-resolution metabolomics of exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes in the Atlanta African American maternal-child cohort, Environmental Pollution, 292, 118361
- Audrey J Gaskins, Ziyin Tang, Robert B Hood, Jennifer Ford, Joel D Schwartz, Dean P Jones, Francine Laden, Donghai Liang, 2021, Periconception air pollution, metabolomic biomarkers, and fertility among women undergoing assisted reproduction, Environment International, 155, 106666
- Jennifer L Moutinho*, Donghai Liang*, Rachel Golan, Rodney Weber, Stefanie Ebelt Sarnat, Jeremy A Sarnat, Armistead G Russell, 2020, Near-road vehicle emissions air quality monitoring for exposure modeling, Atmospheric Environment, , 117318
- Donghai Liang*, Liuhua Shi*, Jingxuan Zhao, Pengfei Liu, Jeremy Sarnat, Song Gao, Joel Schwartz, Yang Liu, Stefanie Ebelt, Noah Scovronick, Howard Chang, 2020, Urban Air Pollution May Enhance COVID-19 Case-Fatality and Mortality Rates in the United States. , The Innovation, 1, 100047
- Donghai Liang, Chandresh N Ladva, Rachel Golan, Tianwei Yu, Douglas I Walker, Stefanie E Sarnat, Roby Greenwald, Karan Uppal, ViLinh Tran, Dean P Jones, Armistead G Russell, Jeremy A Sarnat, 2019, Perturbations of the arginine metabolome following exposures to traffic-related air pollution in a panel of commuters with and without asthma, Environment International , 127, 503-513
- Donghai Liang, Rachel Golan, Jennifer L Moutinho, Howard H Chang, Roby Greenwald, Stefanie E Sarnat, Armistead G Russell, Jeremy A Sarnat, 2018, Errors associated with the use of roadside monitoring in the estimation of acute traffic pollutant-related health effects, Environmental Research, 165, 210-219
- Donghai Liang, Jennifer L Moutinho, Rachel Golan, Tianwei Yu, Chandresh N Ladva, Megan Niedzwiecki, Douglas I Walker, Stefanie Ebelt Sarnat, Howard H Chang, Roby Greenwald, Dean P Jones, Armistead G Russell, Jeremy A Sarnat, 2018, Use of high-resolution metabolomics for the identification of metabolic signals associated with traffic-related air pollution, Environment International, 120, 145-154