Xu Gao

Assistant Professor
xu.gao@hsc.pku.edu.cn
Xueyuanlu 38., Haidian district, Beijing, China
Peking University

Personal profile

Dr. Xu Gao is an Assistant Professor and Doctoral supervisor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences at Peking University. As an environmental epidemiologist, his research focuses primarily on precision environmental health and the epidemiology of aging. Dr. Gao has published 80+ peer-reviewed papers in journals of public health, including Nature Aging, Nature Cardiovascular Research, Nature Communications, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Environmental Health Perspectives, Environmental Science & Technology, International Journal of Epidemiology, and European Journal of Epidemiology. He has served as principal investigator for three grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, comprising the Young Scientists Fund (Categories B, NSF CAREER award equivalent), the Young Scientists Fund (Categories C), and the General Program, as well as one task under the National Key Research and Development Program of China. As a recipient of a national-level young talent award, he has also been included in the World’s Top 2% Scientists list. He has been granted three national invention patents and one software copyright, and has been invited by prominent journals, including Nature Aging and Nature Cardiovascular Research, to contribute commissioned commentaries and perspectives.

Dr.Gao serves as a member of the World Health Organization Expert Group on Air Pollution, Brain Health, and Mental Health, an executive committee member of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE), and the coucilor of ISEE Asia and Western Pacific Chapter. He has received two awards from the ISEE and an Outstanding Reviewer Award from Environmental Health Perspectives. He is a Statistical Editor for The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific and Thorax, an Executive Editorial Board member of Current Environmental Health Reports, and an Editorial Board member of Biomedical and Environmental Sciences.

Education and research experience

2006 – 2011 Bachelor Fudan University China

2011 – 2014 Master Fudan University China

2014 – 2018 PhD (summa cum laude) Heidelberg University Germany

2018 – 2020 Postdoctoral Research Scientist Columbia University US

Main research directions

1. Addressing “How Does the Environment Affect Older Adults’ Health?” Conduct large-scale, population-based environmental epidemiological studies to identify and quantify key environmental determinants of cardiovascular and brain health in older adults, critical exposure windows, and representative exposure scenarios.

2. Elucidating “How Does the Environment Influence Older Adults’ Health Through Biological Aging?” Integrate multi-omics approaches and artificial intelligence to elucidate, at the population level, the multi-omics networks through which environmental exposures drive biological aging and subsequently influence the onset and progression of age-related diseases and healthy longevity. Identify key biomarkers and develop quantitative tools for monitoring biological aging trajectories.

3. Exploring “How Can We Mitigate Environment-Related Aging Risks to Promote Healthy Aging?” Identify and evaluate health-promoting interventions targeting key environmental risk factors and modifiable omics-based targets, including environmental risk mitigation and individual behavioral modifications, to provide scientific evidence for public health policymaking.

Epidemiology, Aging, Gerontology, Geriatrics, Precision Environmental Health, AI, Brain Health

We are recruiting postdoctoral fellows, doctoral students, and research assistants across all the research areas described above. Positions are available on a rolling basis, and interested candidates are welcome to contact us by email (xu.gao@hsc.pku.edu.cn).

Representative scientific research projects

PI:

1. National Natural Science Foundation of China (82622098). Environmental Epidemiology. 2027.01 – 2029.12. PI (NSF CAREER Award equivalent)

2. National Natural Science Foundation of China (82574035). Impact of black carbon exposure on circadian rhythm disruption and brain function impairment in older adults: a mechanistic investigation of ATXN2/2L nucleic acid methylation. 2026.01 – 2029.12. PI

3. National Natural Science Foundation of China (82304098). Impact of black carbon exposure on the cognitive function of older adults: a mechanistic investigation of the DNA methylation dynamic regulation of SLC25A51. 2024.01 – 2026.12. PI

4. Open Foundation of Guangxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Exposomics and Lifelong Health (2023-GKLEH-03): A Longevity Cohort Study on Environmental Heavy Metal Exposure and Biological Age in the Elderly. 2023.10 - 2025.09. PI

5. Open Foundation of China CDC Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health (2022-CKL-03). Effects of chronic exposure to cadmium and arsenic on frailty and DNA methylation mechanisms in the older adults. 2022.01-2023.12. PI

Key investigator:

1. China National Key R&D Program (No. 2023YFC3603400). Investigation on the health factors and anti-aging targets of long-lived populations in China. 2023.12-2026.11. Key investigator

2. China National Key R&D Program (No. 2022YFC3702704). Investigation on the life course health effect spectrum of air pollution exposure in Chinese residents. 2022.10-2026.03. Key investigator

3. NIH R01 (R01ES025225): Circulating microRNAs in Extracellular Vesicles, Air Particulate Pollution, and Lung Function in an Aging Cohort. 2018 – 2020 Co-investigator

4. NIH R01 (R01ES027747): Air Particulate, Metals, and Cognitive Performance in an Aging Cohort – Roles of Circulating Extracellular Vesicles and Non-coding RNAs. 2018 – 2020 Co-investigator

5. Fondazione Cariplo (Bando Ricerca Malattie invecchiamento, #2017-0653): The Trithorax and Polycomb group proteins UTX and EzH2 in the Frailty Syndrome. 2017-2020 Co-investigator

10 representative papers

(Published since 2020; *as corresponding author)

1. Lyu X, Zhang X, Xiong W, Lai H*#, Gao X*#. Nonlinear Relationships of Carbon Emissions with Global Mortality: Trends, Projections, and Health Equity. Environmental Science & Technology, 2026. 60(4): 3002-3012. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.5c12220.

2. Jiang M, Guo P, Liu S, Wang H, Cai J, Qin J*#, Gao X*#. A multidimensional epidemiological perspective on frailty dynamics and prevention. Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2026, 37(3): 217-229. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2025.07.001. (ESI high-cited)

3. Jiang M, Wang Y, Tian S, Liu S, Luo Y, Song H, Qin J, Lv Y, Baccarelli AA, Zhang Z, Shi X*#, Gao X*#. Air Pollution Control Mitigates Frailty Progression: Evidence from Two Cohorts of Older Adults and DNA Methylation Insights. Environmental Science & Technology, 2025; 59, 9907−9917. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.4c13675.

4. Wang Y#, Li H#, Huang J#, Jiang M, Tian S, Liu S, Zhang L*#, Wu S*#, Kan H*#, Gao X*#. Short-term PM2.5 exposure and DNA methylation changes of circadian rhythm genes: Evidence from two experimental studies. Environmental Science & Technology, 2024; 58 (23), 9991–10000. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.4c00108.

5. Jiang M, Tian S, Liu S, Wang Y, Guo X, Huang T, Lin X, Belsky D, Baccarelli AA, Gao X*. Accelerated biological aging elevates the risk of cardiometabolic multimorbidity and mortality. Nature Cardiovascular Research, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s44161-024-00438-8. (Research highlights)

6. Gao X*, Tian S, Huang N, Sun G, Huang T. Associations of daily sedentary behavior, physical activity, and sleep with irritable bowel syndrome: a prospective analysis of 362,193 participants. Journal of Sport and Health Science. 2024; 13 (1), 72-80. doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2023.02.002. (ESI high-cited)

7. Gao X*, Tong G, Jiang M, Huang N, Zheng Y, Belsky D*, Huang T. Accelerated biological aging and risk of depression and anxiety: evidence from 424,299 UK Biobank participants. Nature Communications, 2023, doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-38013-7. (ESI high-cited)

8. Gao X*, Jiang M, Huang N, Guo X, Huang T. Long-Term Air Pollution, Genetic Susceptibility, and the Risk of Depression and Anxiety: A Prospective Study in the UK Biobank Cohort. Environmental Health Perspectives, 2023, doi: 10.1289/EHP10391. (ESI high-cited)

9. Gao X#, Huang J#, Cardenas A, Zhao Y, Sun Y, Wang J, Xue L, Baccarelli AA, Guo X, Zhang L, Wu S. Short-Term Exposure of PM2.5 and Epigenetic Aging: A Quasi-Experimental Study. Environmental Science & Technology, 2022, doi: 10.1021/acs.est.2c05534.

10. Gao X*, Coull B, Lin X, Vokonas P, Spiro A III, Hou L, Schwartz J, Baccarelli AA. Short-term air pollution, cognitive performance and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use in the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study. Nature Aging. 2021; 1(5):430-437. doi:10.1038/s43587-021-00060-4. （Cover story）