Zhengui Xia, PhD, MS

Dr. Zhengui Xia is Professor in toxicology in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences. She previously held the Sheldon D. Murphy Endowed Chair in Toxicology and Environmental Health. Dr. Xia is also Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and a faculty member of two interdisciplinary graduate programs at the University of Washington—the Neurobiology and Behavior graduate program and the Molecular and Cell Biology graduate program.

Her current research interests are to: 1) investigate whether and how exposure to environmental neurotoxicants, such as air pollution and heavy metals, including lead and cadmium, may perturb adult neurogenesis (the generation of functional neurons in the adult brain) and impair olfaction and cognition; 2) test the hypothesis that environmental factors and gene-environment interactions (GXE) may increase Alzheimer’s disease risk and accelerate cognitive decline; 3) investigate potential sex differences on disease susceptibility upon exposure to environmental neurotoxicants; 4) identify the window of susceptibility during development to environmental exposures; 5) identify mechanisms and strategies to mitigate the adverse effect of environmental exposure on cognitive impairment; and 6) explore the role of the microbiome in cognitive impairment and neurodegeneration upon environmental exposures. She addresses these questions using animal models, including humanized transgenic mouse models. The Xia lab is a medium-sized lab that consists of post-doctoral fellows and students who are bright, motivated, collegial and friendly.