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Zeyan Liew, PhD, MPH

Assistant Professor of Epidemiology (Environmental Health)

Research Summary

The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) theory suggests that there are critical vulnerable periods in pre or early postnatal life during which not only development, but also future health may be impacted dramatically. My research has been focusing on employing large longitudinal pregnancy cohorts to evaluate potential adverse effects from in-utero exposures to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, including persistent organic pollutants and pesticides, and pharmaceutical agents such as acetaminophen. Over the years, I have studied a broad range of neurodevelopmental endpoints including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD), cerebral palsy (CP), and functional brain measures such as intelligence, executive function, motor function, and social and behavioral problems. My team utilizes some unique and large-scale population-based cohorts and register data for research, which include (1) the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC), a prospective pregnancy cohort of approximately 100,000 women and their offspring currently in its 18 years follow up, (2) Danish and other Nordic medical registers and biobank data that span up to three decades and two generations, (3) statewide birth records and disease registers in California, and recently (4) mental health outcomes among children enrolled in the U.S. Nurses’ Health Study. Finally, I also contributed to methodological research specifically in causal inference and bias analyses.

Coauthors

Research Interests

Acetaminophen; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Cerebral Palsy; Child Development; Environmental Pollutants; Pregnancy; Models, Statistical; Causality; Pharmacoepidemiology; Endocrine Disruptors; Pediatric Obesity; Autism Spectrum Disorder

Public Health Interests

Environmental Health; Epidemiology Methods; Global Health; Maternal & Child Health; Child/Adolescent Health; Perinatal/Prenatal Health; Pharmacoepidemiology

Selected Publications