Dr. How-Ran Chao, Distinguished Professor of Environmental Engineering, holding a Ph.D. from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. Her research integrates environmental epidemiology, toxicology, and biomonitoring to elucidate the health impacts of environmental contaminants. Major interests include human biomonitoring using breast milk, cord blood, and venous blood, health risk assessment of endocrine-disrupting chemicals and halogenated persistent organic pollutants, development of bioassays for endocrine activity, and monitoring of hazardous air pollutants to support evidence-based public health protection.

Our laboratory focuses on understanding and mitigating the impacts of environmental exposures on human health and climate sustainability through an interdisciplinary framework that integrates environmental health, environmental epidemiology, toxicology, and environmental science. We investigate the health effects of complex environmental stressors—including endocrine-disrupting chemicals, persistent organic pollutants, hazardous air pollutants, and indoor air contaminants—using combined approaches of human biomonitoring, bioassays, and exposure assessment.

A core research direction involves the application of environmental epidemiology and biomonitoring to characterize real-world human exposure using biological matrices such as breast milk, cord blood, and venous blood. These data are coupled with bioassay-based toxicity and endocrine activity screening to elucidate biological mechanisms and health risks associated with chemical mixtures at environmentally relevant concentrations.

The laboratory also addresses indoor and ambient air quality by monitoring hazardous air pollutants and assessing exposure pathways in residential, occupational, and urban environments. By integrating environmental measurements with health-risk modeling, our work supports evidence-based strategies for air pollution control and public health protection.

In parallel, we advance research on carbon inventory and carbon footprint assessment to quantify environmental and health co-benefits of emission-reduction strategies. By linking air pollution mitigation, indoor environmental quality, and carbon management, our laboratory aims to provide scientific evidence that supports sustainable environmental policies and climate-health co-benefits at local, national, and global scales.