Xu Dongqun

Dr. Xu Dongqun is the Chief Expert of Environmental Health of China CDC. She graduated from the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine in 1998 with a doctorate degree. Then she worked at the Environmental Health Monitoring Institute of the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine. Following the establishment of China CDC in 2002, the institution was renamed the National Institute for Environmental Health of China CDC. Dr. Xu has been extensively involved in environmental and health monitoring, investigation, health risk assessment, and health protection initiatives. As the overall technical leader, she directed the establishment of a monitoring network covering 167 monitoring points in 87 cities in 31 provinces across the country, to carry out monitoring of the impact of air pollution on human health. This work has supported the management of air pollution’s impact on public health and informed decision-making in  health strategies. It has strengthened the system construction and capacity building for monitoring, investigation and evaluation in the field of air pollution and health, and achieved remarkable social benefits. She played a key role in formulating ‘The Technical Specification for Health Risk Assessment of Air Pollution’, which has promoted the risk assessment of air pollution to human health and laid a foundation for the establishment of environmental health risk assessment system. Her work provides a scientific foundation for formulation the ‘Three-year Action Plan to Resolutely Fight Pollution and Strengthen Environment and Health Efforts’and the ‘Healthy China Action (2019-2030): Promoting a Healthy environment.’

 

Dr. Xu has committed to environmental health research, focusing on the impact and mechanism of air pollution on human health. She has led and completed multiple scientific research projects, including the following: the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Beijing Natural Science Foundation of China, the Scientific and Technical Tackle Program of 10th and 11th Five-year Plans, the National Program of Social Welfare, the welfare program of health and environmental protection, National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 Program), and Key Program for the Causes and Control of Heavy Air Pollution. The accurate exposure assessment methods of air pollutants have been established, the early effect markers and susceptibility markers of respiratory diseases induced by air pollution have been screened, and the comprehensive intervention technology system of three levels of air pollution prevention has been built. Dr. Xu was awarded 2 second prizes of Science and Technology of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association (ranked first), the third prize of People's Liberation Army Science and Technology Progress (ranked second), the third prize of Tianjin Natural Science (ranked third) ; first Prize of China Standard Innovation Contribution(ranked sixth).

 

Dr Xu has been a member of the National Environmental Health Standards Committee for three consecutive terms and a chairman of the Environmental Health Standards Committee for one term, and currently serves as a consultant on the Environmental Health Standards Committee. As the main drafter, participated in the formulation and revision of the ‘Indoor Air Quality Standard’ and led the development of the‘Technical Guidelines for Deriving Health Protection Distances from Unorganized Emissions of Atmospheric Hazardous Substances’and the ‘Technical Specifications for Health Risk Assessment of Air Pollution’. From 2008 to 2009, she worked for the Department of Environmental Health and Community in the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization, providing technical support in environmental health impact assessment, climate change, chemical safety, and air pollution control, and promoting the development and implementation of environmental and health action plans in some countries in the Western Pacific region. As a member of the WHO Tobacco Testing Laboratory Network (WHO TobLabNet), she participated in the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and carried out the detection of toxic and harmful pollutants in tobacco components and releases, the monitoring of second-hand smoke exposure in the population, and the detection of harmful components in electronic cigarettes. She also been involved in the international chemical management roadmap, climate change and protection of small islands, biodiversity, and other relevant work, as well as the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and other relevant work.

 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Xu was repeatedly assigned by the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council to participate in the field work of tracing the source of SARS-Cov-2, community prevention and control, and disinfection in various provinces and cities. Her research team established the field simulation experiment system of SARS-Cov-2 aerosol transmission for the first time and carried out field aerosol simulation experiments in residential buildings, quarantine hotel/apartment building, hospitals, airports and other places where the epidemic clustered. Dr. Xu’s team confirmed the transmission routes and main influencing factors of SARS-Cov-2 aerosol, provided experimental evidence for the traceability of COVID-19, and proposed several targeted prevention and control measures, made outstanding contributions to the prevention and control of the epidemic. Dr. Xu was awarded the May Day Labor Medal by the central and state organs in 2021.