JOHN JI
Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Science
Duke Kunshan University
CONTACT
No.8 Duke Avenue, Kunshan
Jiangsu, China 215316
Telephone: +86 (0512) 36657255
Email: john.ji@dukekunshan.edu.cn
RESEARCH AREA
My research interest is in the environment and population health sciences. I am interested in studying the health impact of air pollution, soil, and drinking water. Previously, I have assessed the effect of lead, a heavy metal, on neurological and motor function. I am currently quantifying how modification environmental factors can lead to healthier lives and longevity.
Methodology
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Longitudinal and Cross-sectional Study
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Cohort and Case-Control Study
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Environmental Exposure Assessment
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Gene-Environment Interaction
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Linear and Logistic Regression
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Cox-Proportional Hazard Models, Survival Analysis
Education
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University
Master of Science (S.M.) in Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health
Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) in Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health
iMEP Program
My Courses
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ENVIRON 736K: Planetary Health and Environmental Epidemiology 2020
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PUBPOL 870K: Statistics and Program Evaluation 2020
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PUBPOL 631K: Research Methods II 2020
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ENVIRON 593K: Independent Studies and Projects 2019
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K_DATASC 293: Research Independent Study in Data Science 2019
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K_GLHLTH 301: Global Health Research Methods 2019
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PUBPOL 631K: Environmental Science Research Methods 2019
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ENVIRON 898K: Master's Project I 2018
PROJECTS
Gene-Environment Interaction
Gene-environment interaction is when two different genotypes respond to environmental variation in different ways. We are exploring gene-environment interactions of longevity and cognitive decline for the following single nucleotide polymorphisms: APOE and FOXO, and SIRT1.
Digital Biomarker Study
We are starting a cohort to assess digital biomarkers technologies to explain, influence or predict health-related outcomes. As DKU students and staff need to travel internationally to Durham, we will use this as a natural experiment. Using wearables, we plan to monitor physical activity and sleep data in response to changing environments.
Lancet Commission - Health Cities in China
The Tsinghua-Lancet Healthy Cities in China Commission Report explores the topic of the current healthy city efforts in China and the world, aimed towards identifying gaps in knowledge, socio-economic factors, cultural, and policy. John Ji joins Prof. Gong Peng’s the Lancet commission working with the Department for Earth System Science at Tsinghua University to explore Healthy Cities in China. The concept of healthy cities has been promoted by WHO since 1986, a movement that puts health high on the political, social, and economic agendas of cities. The final report will be disseminated in late 2017.
Gates Foundation - SDG Environmental Health
Dr. John Ji joins Professor Shenglan Tang’s working group to analyze environmental health component of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). The SDGs, adopted by UN member states on September 25, 2015, have now succeeded the MDGs. The SDGs set out a new development agenda to achieve global poverty alleviation and secure the planet for the next fifteen years. The SDGs have 17 goals and 169 targets.
MEET THE RESEARCH TEAM
Current
I received my bachelor's degree in Preventive Medicine from Nanchang University and a master's degree in Epidemiology and Health Statistics from Sichuan University. A fun fact about myself: I am right-handed when eating and writing, but left-handed when playing sports and brushing teeth.
Qile He
Research Intern
I am an undergraduate of Biomedical English at Peking University. I am interested in the impact of environmental factors on health long before. One day I just came back from an SDG conference and was thinking about the issue of sustainable cities. At that time, I had the chance to apply for an internship in our research group, so I unhesitatingly joined in. It is also a great opportunity for me to develop the ability of data analysis, essay writing, and cooperation.
Wenhao(Ricardo) Qi
GH MS Student
I got my bachelor of Medicine from Southeast University and I am a Master of Science Candidate at Duke Kunshan University. I am working on air pollution and oxidative stress biomarkers. In the near future, I plan to study for a doctoral degree.
I received my bachelor's degree in Preventive Medicine from Xiamen University, and I am a Ph.D. student at the School of the Environment, Nanjing University right now. I am working on a project about the combined effect of greenness and heatwaves on health. We find that there is an interactive effect on health between residential greenness and heatwaves. In the next step, I will explore the impact of low temperature on health and what will change in the context of climate change.
I am an iMEP student at Duke Kunshan University. I love discovery and once travelled 300km on a naval ship during a northwest monsoon for a project site visit. I feel best when I’m in nature and hiking new trails. I am interested in intersectional issues, such as planetary health.
Ke(Duke) Ding
Science Communication Volunteer
I am a junior majoring in Environmental Justice and Citizenship at Beloit College, WI. I plan to go to Grad School directly after my undergraduate. Running is my best way to distress and I am a Track and Cross Country athlete for Beloit.
Alumni
Hui Miao (Research Intern) Joined as an undergraduate student from Peking University Health Science Center. Worked on analysis in NHANES on environmental determinants of drug effects, and heavy metal exposure trend analysis.
Publications:
-“Association between Blood Lead Level and Uncontrolled Hypertension in the US Population (NHANES 1999-2016).” Journal of American Heart Association, 2020.
-"Trends of blood cadmium concentration among workers and non-workers in the United States (NHANES 2003-2012)." Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2019
Shuyi (Rachel) Qiu (Research Intern) Joined as an undergraduate student from Shanghai Jiaotong University. Pursuing projects on the health effects of environment and socioeconomic determinants of health.
Anna Zhu (Research Analyst) Joined after studying public health at Wuhan University and global health at Duke University. Led projects on greenness and health outcomes, gene-environment interaction. Pursuing a PhD in cancer epidemiology at the University of Heidelberg.
Publications:
-“Residential Greenness Alters Serum 25(OH)D Concentrations: A Longitudinal Cohort of Chinese Older Adults.” Journal of American Medical Directors Association, 2020
-“Gene-Environment Interaction of Residential Greenness and FOXO on Mortality among Older Adults.” Rejuvenation Research, 2020.
-"Interaction between Residential Greenness and Air Pollution Mortality: Analysis of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS)." The Lancet Planetary Health, 2020
-“APOE ε4 Modifies Effect of Residential Greenness on Cognitive Function among Older Adults: A Longitudinal Analysis in China.” Scientific Reports, 2019
-“A Comparison Study of Vitamin D Deficiency among Older Adults in China and the United States.” Scientific Reports, 2019
-“Residential Greenness and Frailty among Older Adults: A Longitudinal Cohort in China.” Journal of American Medical Director Association, 2019
-“Association of Residential Greenness and Cognitive Function: Analysis of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey.” BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, 2019.
-“Residential Greenness, Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL): A Longitudinal Cohort Study of Older Adults in China.” Environmental Epidemiology, 2019
-“Residential Greenness and Mortality in a Cohort of Oldest-Old Women and Men in China.” The Lancet Planetary Health, 2019
Jia Wei (Research Intern) Joined as an undergraduate student from Peking University Health Science Center. Worked on analysis in NHANES on heavy metal and micronutrient blood biomarkers and health outcomes. Pursuing DPhil at the University of Oxford.
Publications:
-“A Comparison Study of Vitamin D Deficiency among Older Adults in China and the United States.” Scientific Reports, 2019
-“Association of Serum Vitamins with Eczema in US Adults (NHANES 2005-2006).” Dermatology, 2019
-“Inverted U-Shaped Relationship between Vitamin D and Eczema in US adults.” Allergy, 2019
-“Association between Eczema and Blood Biomarker of Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury in NHANES.” Archives of Environmental and Occupational Health, 2018
Chengcheng Qiu (Research Intern) Joined as a Master of Public Health student from Yale University. Assessed the relationship of climate change, extreme weather events, on elderly mortality.
Publications:
- Greenness and heat mortality (under review)
Yuantong Anthony Sun (Research Intern) Joined as an undergraduate student from Fudan University. Worked on quantitative and qualitative data collection for the SDG project. Pursuing a masters degree in environmental health at Harvard School of Public Health.
Nick Peoples (Student Worker) Joined as a master student in global health at Duke Kunshan University. Worked on healthy aging project and data management. Now at Baylor School of Medicine.
Jingyu Tong (Student Worker) Joined as a master student in global health at Duke Kunshan University. Worked on healthy aging project and data management. Now at IQVIA (IMS Quintiles).
Longkai Zang (Research Volunteer) Joined as an undergraduate student from Wuhan University) Worked on supporting SDG project and digital biomarker study.
Huilin Chen (Research Volunteer) Joined as a masters student from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Worked on quantitative data collection for the SDG project. Now at a pharmaceutical corporation.
Qidi (Jenny) Xu (Research Volunteer) Joined as an undergraduate student from Arizona State University. Worked on science communication.
Linxin Liu
Senior Research Analyst
Yucheng Wang
Research Intern
I am an undergraduate of Biomedical English at Peking University. I would like to explore the areas of public health and gain experience in data analyzing. I plan to study for a master’s or doctoral degree in the near future.
Huayi Xiong
Research Intern
I am an undergraduate of Biomedical English at Peking University. I am interested in public health and epidemiology, and this is what I want to major in in the future. In my free time, I love playing the guitar and drums.
PUBLICATIONS
Published Peer-Reviewed Empirical Research
Jiao Wang, Wenjing Yang, Lijun Pan, John S Ji, Jin Shen, Kangfeng Zhao, Bo Ying, Xianliang Wang, Liubo Zhang, Lin Wang, Xiaoming Shi. “Prevention and Control of COVID-19 in Nursing Homes, Orphanages, and Prisons.” Environmental Pollution, 2020
Anna Zhu, Yi Zeng, John S. Ji*. “Residential Greenness Alters Serum 25(OH)D Concentrations: A Longitudinal Cohort of Chinese Older Adults.” Journal of American Medical Directors Association, 2020
Jiao Wang, Lijun Pan, Song Tang, John S Ji, Xiaoming Shi. “Mask use during COVID-19: A risk adjusted strategy.” Environmental Pollution, 2020
Jiaonan Wang, Tiantian Li, Yuebin Lv, Virginia Byers Kraus, Yi Zhang, Chen Mao, Zhaoxue Yin, Wanying Shi, Jinhui Zhou, Tongzhang Zheng, Patrick L Kinney, John Ji, Song Tang, Xiaoming Shi. "Fine Particulate Matter and Poor Cognitive Function among Chinese Older Adults: Evidence from a Community-Based, 12-Year Prospective Cohort Study." Environmental Health Perspectives, 2020.
Linxin Liu, Anna Zhu, Chang Shu, Yi Zeng, John S. Ji*. “Gene-Environment Interaction of Residential Greenness and FOXO on Mortality among Older Adults.” Rejuvenation Research, 2020.
Hui Miao#, Yan Liu, Thomas C. Tsai, Joel Schwartz, John S. Ji*. “Association between Blood Lead Level and Uncontrolled Hypertension in the US Population (NHANES 1999-2016).” Journal of American Heart Association, 2020.
John S. Ji*, Anna Zhu, Yuebin Lv, Xiaoming Shi*. "Interaction between Residential Greenness and Air Pollution Mortality: Analysis of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS)." The Lancet Planetary Health, 2020
Anna Zhu, Chang Shu, Lijing Yan, Yi Zeng, John S. Ji*. “APOE ε4 Modifies Effect of Residential Greenness on Cognitive Function among Older Adults: A Longitudinal Analysis in China.” Scientific Reports, 2019
Mengying Wang, Wenyong Li, Ren Zhou, Siyue Wang, Hongchen Zheng, Jin Jiang, Shengfeng Wang, Canqing Yu, Wenjing Gao, Jun Lv, Tao Wu, Weihua Cao, Yonghua Hu, Liming Li, John S Ji. “The Paradox Association between Smoking and Blood Pressure among Half Million Chinese People.” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2020
Jia Wei#, Anna Zhu, John S. Ji*. “A Comparison Study of Vitamin D Deficiency among Older Adults in China and the United States.” Scientific Reports, 2019
Anna Zhu, Lijing Yan, Chenkai Wu, John S. Ji*. “Residential Greenness and Frailty among Older Adults: A Longitudinal Cohort in China.” Journal of American Medical Director Association, 2019
Hui Miao#, John S. Ji. "Trends of blood cadmium concentration among workers and non-workers in the United States (NHANES 2003-2012)." Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2019
XX Wang, JY Chen, H Jiang, AN Zhu, Q Long, JS Ji. “Utilization and expenses of outpatient services among tuberculosis patients in three Chinese counties: an observational comparison study.” Infectious diseases of poverty, 2019.
Anna Zhu, Chenkai Wu, Lijing Yan, Chih-Da Wu, Chen Bai, Xiaoming Shi, Yi Zeng, John S. Ji*. “Association of Residential Greenness and Cognitive Function: Analysis of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey.” BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, 2019.
Shu Chen, Lei Guo, Zhan Wang, Wenhui Mao, Yanfeng Ge, Xiaohua Ying, Jing Fang, Qian Long, Qin Liu, Hao Xiang, Chenkai Wu, Chaowei Fu, Di Dong, Jiahui Zhang, Ju Sun, Lichun Tian, Limin Wang, Maigeng Zhou, Mei Zhang, Mengcen Qian, Wei Liu, Weixi Jiang, Wenmeng Feng, Xinying Zeng, Xiyu Ding, Xun Lei, Rachel Tolhust, Xu Ling, Haidong Wang, Steve Lim, Rafael Lozano, Emmenuela Gakidou, John S. Ji, Mary Story, Gavin Yamey, Shenglan Tang. "Can China Achieve the Health-Related Sustainable Development Goals by 2030? An Analysis of Its Current Health Status and Projected 2030 Achievements." PLOS Medicine (in press), 2019
Jia Wei#, John S. Ji*. “Association of Serum Vitamins with Eczema in US Adults (NHANES 2005-2006).” Dermatology, 2019
Anna Zhu, Lijing Yan, Chih-Da Wu, Peter James, Yi Zeng, John S. Ji*. “Residential Greenness, Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL): A Longitudinal Cohort Study of Older Adults in China.” Environmental Epidemiology, 2019
Hu, D.; Long, Q.; Chen, J.; Wang, X.; Huang, F.; Ji, J.S. ‘’Factors Influencing Hospitalization Rates and Inpatient Cost of Patients with Tuberculosis in Jiangsu Province, China: An Uncontrolled before and after Study.‘’ Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2019.
John S. Ji*, Anna Zhu, Chen Bai, Chih-Da Wu, Lijing Yan, Shenglan Tang, Yi Zeng, Peter James. “Residential Greenness and Mortality in a Cohort of Oldest-Old Women and Men in China.” The Lancet Planetary Health, 2019
Jia Wei#, Tarannum Jaleel, Amanda S. MacLeod, John S. Ji*. “Inverted U-Shaped Relationship between Vitamin D and Eczema in US adults.” Allergy, 2019
Jia Wei#, Junfeng (Jim) Zhang, John S. Ji*. “Association between Eczema and Blood Biomarker of Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury in NHANES.” Archives of Environmental and Occupational Health, 2018
Jun Yang, José G Siri, Justin V Remais, Qu Cheng, Han Zhang, Karen K Y Chan, Zhe Sun, Yuanyuan Zhao, Na Cong, Xueyan Li, Wei Zhang, Yuqi Bai, Jun Bi, Wenjia Cai, Emily Y Y Chan, Wanqing Chen, Weicheng Fan, Hua Fu, Jianqing He, Hong Huang, John S Ji, Peng Jia, Xiaopeng Jiang, Mei-Po Kwan, Tianhong Li, Xiguang Li, Song Liang, Xiaofeng Liang, Lu Liang, Qiyong Liu, Yongmei Lu, Yong Luo, Xiulian Ma, Bernhard Schwartländer, Zhiyong Shen, Peijun Shi, Jing Su, Tinghai Wu, Changhong Yang, Yongyuan Yin, Qiang Zhang, Yinping Zhang, Yong Zhang, Bing Xu, Peng Gong, “The Tsinghua–Lancet Commission on Healthy Cities in China: unlocking the power of cities for a healthy China.” The Lancet, 2018
Hongmei Zeng, Rongshou Zheng, Siwei Zhang, John S. Ji, Xiaonong Zou, Changfa Xia, Kexin Sun, Zhixun Yang, He Li, Ning Wang, Renqiang Han, Shuzheng Liu, Huizhang Li, Huijuan Mu, Yutong He, Yanjun Xu, Zhentao Fu, Yan Zhou, Jie Jiang, Yanlei Yang, Jianguo Chen, Kuangrong Wei, Dongmei Fan, Jian Wang, Fangxian Fu, Deli Zhao, Guohui Song, Jianshun Chen, Chunxiao Jiang, Xin Zhou, Xiaoping Gu, Feng Jin, Qilong Li, Yanhua Li, Tonghao Wu, Chunhua Yan, Jianmei Dong, Zhaolai Hua, Peter Baade, Xue Qin Yu, Freddie Bray, Wanqing Chen1, Jie He1. “Changing cancer survival in China 2003-2013: a pooled population-based analysis from 17 registries.” The Lancet Global Health, May 2018
Ji, John S.*, Louis, ED, Sparrow D, Spiro, A, Hu H, Weisskopf MG. “Cumulative Lead Exposure and Tremor in a Cohort of Older Men: Impact of Lead Biomarkers in the VA Normative Aging Study.” Environmental Health Perspectives, 2015
Ji John S.*, Schwartz J, Sparrow D, Hu H, Weisskopf MG. “Occupational determinants of cumulative lead exposure: analysis of bone lead among men in the VA normative aging study.” Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2014
Ji, John S.*, Alexis Elbaz and Marc G. Weisskopf. “Association between Blood Lead and Walking Speed in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 1999–2002).” Environmental Health Perspectives, 2013
Published Peer-Reviewed Empirical Research (Global and Local Burdens of Disease Study)
Local Burden of Disease Diarrhoea Collaborators. "Mapping geographical inequalities in childhood diarrhoeal morbidity and mortality in low-income and middle-income countries, 2000–17: analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017." The Lancet, 2020.
Local Burden of Disease Educational Attainment Collaborators. "Mapping disparities in education across low-and middle-income countries." Nature, 2020
Local Burden of Disease Collaborators. “Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017.” Nature, 2019
GBD Studies
GBD 2017 Disease and Injury Incidence and Prevalence Collaborators, “Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.” The Lancet, 2018
GBD 2017 SDG Collaborators, “Measuring progress from 1990 to 2017 and projecting attainment to 2030 of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals for 195 countries and territories: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.” The Lancet, 2018
GBD 2017 Mortality Collaborators, “Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.” The Lancet, 2018
GBD 2017 Population and Fertility Collaborators, “Population and fertility by age and sex for 195 countries and territories, 1950–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.” The Lancet, 2018
GBD 2017 DALYs and HALE Collaborators. “Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for 359 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.” The Lancet, 2018
GBD 2017 Risk Factor Collaborators, “Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.” The Lancet, 2018
GBD 2016 Motor Neuron Disease Collaborators. “Global, regional, and national burden of motor neuron diseases 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016.” The Lancet Neurology, 2018.
Editorials, Commentaries, and Correspondences
John S. Ji, “Origins of MERS-CoV, and lessons for 2019-nCoV.” The Lancet Planetary Health, 2020.
John S. Ji, “The IMO 2020 sulphur cap: a step forward for planetary health?” The Lancet Planetary Health, 2020
John S. Ji, “Time for Health to Enter China’s Climate Action Framework.” The Lancet Public Health, 2019
John S. Ji, “China’s Air Pollution and Ageing Society.” The Lancet Public Health, 2018
John S. Ji, “Xi Jinping’s roadmap for China prioritises health.” The Lancet, 2017.
Pan Y, Ji John S, Jin JG, Kuo WP, Kang H., “Cancer Liquid Biopsy: Is It Ready for Clinic?” IEEE Pulse, 2017.
Ji John S, Chen Lincoln. “UHC Presents Universal Challenges.” Journal of Health Systems and Reform, 2016.
Ji John S, Chen Lincoln. “Educating the Health Workforce in China.” Chinese Journal of Health Policy, 2015 (in Chinese).
Tsai TC, Ji John S “Neoliberalism and its Discontents Impact of Health Reforms in Chile.” Harvard
International Review, 2009.
Case Studies and Teaching Material
William C. Kirby, Joycelyn Eby, John S. Ji. “Augustine Heard & Co.: Building a Family Business in the China Trade (A).” Harvard Business School Case 316-185, June 2016.
Michael Chu, John S. Ji, Nancy Dai. "Cuncunle: Empowering China’s Rural Villages.” Harvard Business School Case 316-152, March 2016.
Michael Chu, John S. Ji, Nancy Dai. "CreditEase: Taking Inclusive Finance Online.” Harvard Business School Case 316-151, March 2016.
Book Chapters
Biomarker in Elderly Population, Government Report for China’s 13th Five Year Plan: Greenness and Elderly Health Chapter 23 (in Chinese language). 2019 In Press. 国家十三五重点出版计划，《中国老年健康生物标志物研究》第23章《绿地与老年健康》.
Achieving Healthy China 2030 Goals: Environmental Health Chapter (in Chinese language), People’s Health Publishing, 2019 (in-press). 《实现“健康中国2030”目标－基于实证的研究》“环境健康” 章节, 人民卫生出版社.
Mingyi Shang, John S Ji, Chao Song, Bao Jun Gao, Jason Gang Jin, Winston Patrick Kuo, Hongjun Kang. "Extracellular Vesicles: A Brief Overview and Its Role in Precision Medicine." Extracellular Vesicles, Humana Press, New York, 2017.
CONTACT
CONTACT
ADDRESS
No.8 Duke Avenue, Kunshan
Jiangsu, China 215316
Telephone: +86 (0512) 36657255
Email: john.ji@dukekunshan.edu.cn
FACULTY WEBPAGES
Haofan Zhang Ph.D. Student
Suzanne Ong
iMEP Student