Bio: MD & Ph.D. Past Dean of the School of Public Health of Guangxi Medical University. Past Vice President of Guangxi University of Science and Technology. Council Member of the Chinese Society of Toxicology, Vice Chairman of the special Committee on Environmental and Neurodegenerative Diseases of the Chinese Society of Environmental Mutagen, and Vice President of the Guangxi Preventive Medical Association. Received special government allowance from the State Council in China. Research fields include the environmental metal exposure, molecular toxicology, and neural degenerative disease. He has been funded seven times by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, including joint fund key project, national key research and development program project. He has published many papers in Environmental Health Perspectives, JAMA Network Open, Environment International, etc. He won the Chinese Medical Youth Science and Technology Award, the second prize of Guangxi Natural Science Award, and the first prize of Guangxi Teaching Achievement Award.

Abstract: Neurodevelopmental disorders in children have become a growing public concern. However, the relationship between metal exposure and neurocognitive function remains largely unknown. Using a well-established Guangxi Birth Cohort Study, we measured the concentration of 22 metals in blood and urine of mothers during pregnancy. Neurodevelopment was evaluated at 2-3 and 6-7 years of age using Gesell Development Diagnosis Scale and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, respectively. The multi-pollutant composite exposure model was used to estimate the relationship between metals mix-exposure and neurodevelopment injury of offspring. In addition, the toxic effects and mechanisms were explored in rats and Caenorhabditis elegans. In epidemiological studies, BKMR analysis revealed a negative joint effect of prenatal exposure to aluminum, cadmium, and selenium on the language developmental quotient (DQ) score. Prenatal cobalt exposure was negatively associated with verbal intelligence quotient (IQ) score and total IQ score, and nickel exposure was negatively associated with operational IQ score. In rats and Caenorhabditis elegans, parental metal exposure can reduce the learning and memory ability and autonomous motor ability of offspring, and its mechanism is related to oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and neuronal injury. In conclusion, prenatal exposure to metals is associated with neurological development of infants.