Recently, the Science Technology Department of Zhejiang Province issued the Notice on Issuing the List of the Identification, Development and Construction of Provincial Key Laboratories in 2022, the “Key Laboratory of Pollution Exposure and Health Intervention of Zhejiang Province” of which the application was led by our university and participated by Zhejiang University, was approved as the provincial key laboratory development and construction project. This is the first provincial key laboratory that our university got approved for its development and construction as the first supporting organization, which has achieved a historic breakthrough and marked that our university has stepped into a new stage in the field of environmental health research!

The provincial key laboratory represents the leading level in the province in this field. It is a scientific and technological innovation platform that colleges and universities compete and strive to build, and it is an important supporting condition for the development of discipline construction, which also plays an important role in the promotion of education levels, the enhancement of scientific and technological innovation capacity and social service ability, and the improvement of both discipline construction and academic orientation of colleges and universities. Environmental and health research has an important strategic position and significance in serving major needs of the country and the province. On the basis of ZJSRU’s Ultra-micro Research Center, this laboratory is built by focusing on key scientific issues and technical bottlenecks in the field of environment and health, putting the superior resources of our university together to integrate and optimize the research achievements of environmental science and engineering, public health, medicine, epidemiology, bioengineering, food science, life sciences, chemical engineering, information engineering and other multidisciplinary studies, breaking through disciplinary barriers, and using a variety of concepts, methods and technical means to carry out cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary environmental and health research work. The research directions of the laboratory include (1) Pollution exposure and chemical structure diversity risks, (2) Health effects of environment and sensitive population and risk assessment, and (3) comprehensive treatment and resource utilization of pollutants. In the past three years, the laboratory has undertaken 45 projects of various types, including 11 national projects, 13 projects of ministerial and provincial level, 21 projects entrusted by enterprises and public institutions, 5 provincial and ministerial-level/industry awards, 52 SCI papers, and 13 papers published in core journals, 20 national invention patents, and 2 monographs published.

The director of the laboratory is Professor Li Lu, President of ZJSRU, its Executive Deputy Director is Professor Liu Weiping, Dean of Interdisciplinary Research Academy, and the Deputy Director is Professor Chen Jun, Vice President of ZJSRU. There are 48 full-time researchers in the laboratory. The research team includes 1 winner of National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, 6 provincial-level talents, and 1 German Humboldt Scholar.

The leaders of the CPPCC of Zhejiang Province and our university attached great importance to the construction and application of key laboratories of the province. In April 2021, the university established the “special group for applying for key laboratories” composed of our university leaders and the leaders of relevant functional departments (schools). President Li Lu held the post of the group leader, and Vice President Ye Shiping worked as the deputy group leader, to carry out the preparatory work in a tense and orderly fashion. Chairman of the CPPCC of Zhejiang Province Ge Huijun was concerned and guided the construction and application of the laboratory for many times. On the eve of the Teachers’ Day, she led the leaders of relevant departments and bureaus to give guidance and advice. Tong Guoyao, Wang Jun, Chen Xinmin, Chen Jun and other university leaders guided and coordinated to solve a series of problems in the construction and application of the key laboratory for many times.

The approved construction of the Key Laboratory of Pollution Exposure and Health Intervention of Zhejiang Province is conducive to solving major scientific problems in the field of environment and health and the transformation of applied technology. It will help to cultivate scientific research talents in related fields and promote the new progress of “quality improvement” and “famous private university” of ZJSRU.

(News Source: Department of Scientific Research and Social Cooperation)