Monthly Faculty Spotlight - January 2025

Q&A with Dr. Chunrong Jia, PhD

Professor of Environmental Health and Urban Health

1. What brought you to the U of M School of Public Health?
   Opportunities and the "Southern Hospitality." During my on-site interview in early 2009, I learned that Memphis, as the central city of the Mid-South, had multiple environmental and health challenges. I found almost no environmental health (EH) research in this region, suggesting exigent demands for EH experts and research. I also remember the moment I met Dr. Marian Levy upon arrival at the Memphis International Airport. She was so kind, friendly, and heartwarming. I was deeply moved by the “Southern Hospitality” in Memphis, and it made me feel at home.  
   
   
2. What is the broad focus of your research?
   The broad focus of my research is on air pollution and human health. I have conducted studies that cover multiple topics, such as community air monitoring, indoor air quality, exposure and risk assessment, environmental epidemiology, and environmental justice.
   
   
3. What inspired you to pursue this particular area of research?
   At UofM, the main theme of my research is environmental inequity in community exposure to toxic air pollutants. This particular research was driven by (1) my doctoral training in air monitoring techniques, and (2) the fact that disadvantaged communities in Memphis are located in proximity to industrial and traffic sources. With funding from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and collaboration with the Shelby County Health Department, I was able to conduct a series of community-scale air monitoring studies in the Mid-South Region in the past decade.  
   
   
4. What is the most exciting project you are currently working on?
   Currently, I am leading the Tennessee Office for Region 4 Environmental Justice Center, funded by EPA's Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (EJ TCTAC) Program. My office provides training and technical support to community-based organizations and individuals working to address EJ issues in their communities in Tennessee. I believe this project will contribute to achieving our school’s vision to “achieve excellence in public health education and research while promoting greater community impact in local, national, and global settings.”
    
5. How does your research impact or benefit the broader community or public health field? And how do you envision your research evolving in the next few years?
   My research revealed disproportionate exposure to environmental (air and soil) pollutants among disadvantaged communities in the Mid-South and Southeast regions. I have also identified major contributing sources and drivers of air pollution exposure. These findings provide evidence and bases for environmental decision-making and community engagement. For example, my publications on air pollution in Southwest Memphis have been cited by local community groups to support their protests against locating polluting facilities in their neighborhoods.
   Supported by Dean Ashish Joshi, I am directing the Center for Memphis Climate Health Environment Equity Research (MCHEER), aiming to expand collaboration, build capacity, and engage communities to conduct transdisciplinary and translational research addressing complex health impacts from climate change and environmental pollution on vulnerable populations in the Greater Memphis Area and beyond. The MCHEER's goal states my research evolving in the next few years.
   
   
6. What is the coolest training or program you've been a part of, or your favorite conference you've attended?
   The JPB-Harvard Environmental Health Fellowship Program. I was selected as one of the first nine academic fellows in this program in 2014. Over the past decade, I established a state-of-the-art Environmental Health Laboratory with financial support from this program. I conducted over ten studies with my peer fellows with a focus on indoor air quality (IAQ) in residences and workplaces. This Fellowship greatly sped up my professional growth.
   
   
7. What is your favorite self-authored manuscript?
   Jia C, Fu X, Jiang Y, Nored A, Smith L, 2023. Spatiotemporal variability and measurement uncertainty in atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): A quantitative variance component analysis. Atmospheric Environment 302: 119735.
   This article presents findings from my study in the Mid-South, known as the "Memphis PAHs Study." My team at UofM SPH designed and implemented the entire study.
    
8. What kind of research would you like to be doing that you haven't yet had the opportunity to do?
   My laboratory has the capability of analyzing a wide range of organic chemicals, such as organic solvents, combustion products, tobacco smoke, pesticides, and flame retardants. However, due to a lack of funding and interested students, I have been unable to study many of these chemicals except for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). I wish to explore more chemicals to identify their sources, exposures, and associations with human health.
   
   
9. Are there any publications, awards, or recognitions you would like us to include in the spotlight?
   The UofM SPH granted me the Inaugural Faculty Research Award in Spring 2024, a great honor that recognized my research contributions and impacts. I was appointed by the Governor to the State Air Pollution Control Board in 2020 and have been serving on this board since.