Qing Lan

Qing Lan, MD, PhD, serves as Professor Adjunct in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Yale School of Public Health. She is recognized as a world leader in environmental and occupational exposures research with a focus on human health studies and gene-environment interactions. Her work primarily centers on molecular epidemiologic studies of populations exposed to chemical compounds that are known or suspected occupational and environmental carcinogens. She maintains a significant collaborative relationship with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), particularly studying environmental exposures and genetic susceptibility for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma, as well as indoor air pollution and gene polymorphisms for lung cancer risk in Xuanwei, China.

• Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences
• Primary appointment as Professor Adjunct
• Active researcher with numerous publications in environmental health and molecular epidemiology

Dr. Lan's educational background includes an MD from Weifang Medical College (1985), a PhD in Molecular Epidemiology from the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine (2001), and an MPH from Johns Hopkins University. Her PhD training was part of a joint program with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Her research interests span environmental health, biomarkers, molecular epidemiology, occupational exposures, and gene-environment interactions. She has established herself as a leading researcher in studying the health impacts of air pollution, particularly in Chinese populations, with a focus on lung cancer in never-smokers. Her work often involves large cohort studies and international collaborations, especially with researchers in China.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong focus on environmental carcinogens, particularly benzene, trichloroethylene, and household air pollution. Her research employs advanced methodologies including adductomics, epigenome-wide association studies, and genome-wide meta-analyses to understand the molecular mechanisms linking environmental exposures to cancer development. A significant portion of her work examines lung cancer in never-smokers in relation to air pollution, demonstrating her expertise in this specialized area of environmental health.

Dr. Lan has mentored several Yale School of Public Health PhD candidates throughout her career, contributing to the development of the next generation of environmental health scientists. Her collaborative network includes researchers at the NCI, particularly Dr. Rothman N and Dr. Friesen M, with whom she frequently publishes. Her research has been supported by various funding mechanisms that enable large-scale epidemiological studies examining the relationship between environmental exposures and cancer outcomes.