Donghai Liang Receives Joan M. Daisey Outstanding Young Scientist Award

By Shelby Crosier

Donghai Liang, PhD, assistant professor of environmental health, was recently selected to receive the 2024 Joan M. Daisey Outstanding Young Scientist Award.

The award, presented each year by the International Society of Exposure Science (ISES), recognizes the most exceptional exposure scientist who has finished a terminal degree in the past 10 years. Any member of ISES can nominate a scientist who they feel is making outstanding contributions to the field. Liang received multiple nominations this year.

“I am very honored and humbled to even be nominated to start with,” he says. “When I was informed that I won the award, it felt like a dream come true. I came to Emory as a doctoral student in 2014, so this year marks my 10-year anniversary in exposure science. I am so happy that I was fortunate enough to be nominated and get this award at this important stage of my career.”

Three other Rollins faculty have previously won the Joan M. Daisey Outstanding Young Scientist Award: Dana Barr, PhD, professor of environmental health; Jeremy Sarnat, ScD, associate professor of environmental health; and Amina Salamova, PhD, assistant professor of environmental health.

Liang and other award winners will be honored at the 2024 ISES Annual Meeting in October.

About Donghai Liang

Liang’s research focuses on characterizing the human exposome and health responses to environmental exposures, particularly air pollution and persistent organic pollutants like PFAS, using omics technologies. He leads the Environmental Metabolomics and Exposomics Research Group at Emory, where his work centers on investigating the molecular mechanisms and disease etiology associated with complex environmental exposures, especially in historically underserved populations.