Qunwei Zhang is one of two recipients of the 2006 Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award from the Health Effects Institute (HEI).  The award recognizes and supports the work of a promising scientist early in his or her career, providing up to $300,000 over three years in total costs.

Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at SPHIS.  His research project will evaluate the health effect of ultra-fine ambient particles present in the Louisville area using studies on mice.  His goal is to understand the interaction of cardiovascular disease factors, in this case high cholesterol, with ultrafine particles.

Dr. Zhang received his MD degree from Fujiang Medical University and his MPH degree from the School of Public Health at Zhejiang University, China. He earned his PhD at the University of Fukui School of Medicine, Japan, where he studied effects of metal nano-particles on the lungs. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship at New York University School of Medicine where he studied the molecular mechanisms of metal toxicity and carcinogenesis.

Zhang joined the University of Louisville in 2005 from the Institute for Environmental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center.  He received the 2006 Research!Louisville first place award for Scientific Importance.

HEI is a nonprofit corporation chartered in 1980 as an independent research organization to provide high-quality, impartial, and relevant science on the health effects of air pollution.