Professor Cunrui Huang earned his Ph.D. from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia. In 2014, he was recruited to Sun Yat-sen University through its "Hundred Talents Program" for outstanding young scholars. In 2015, he was selected for the National High-Level Talent Recruitment Program (Youth Project), and in 2018, he was recognized as a "Medical Leading Talent" in Guangdong Province. In September 2021, he joined Tsinghua University as a tenured professor at the Vanke School of Public Health. He has held multiple administrative titles, including Assistant Dean, Director of the Teaching Office, and Director of the Center for Healthy Cities Research. In January 2024, he was appointed as the Vice Dean of the Vanke School of Public Health.

Research

Professor Huang’s research interests include climate change and health, environmental epidemiology, health policy and management, and global health. His works mainly focus on assessing climate change-related health risks and devising targeted intervention to improve health. Over the years, his works have gained worldwide recognition for their profoundness and outstanding level of novelty. The research interests of his team are aligned with national strategic goals and global scientific frontiers, advocating for climate adaptation and sustainable development initiatives centered on human health.

Scientific Contributions

Research Aims:

1. Uncover the spatiotemporal patterns of health impacts from meteorological factors and extreme weather under climate change.

2. Elucidate mechanisms and key driving factors of regional health risks caused by adverse climate conditions.

3. Evaluate the effectiveness and cost-benefit of climate disaster mitigation and carbon neutrality strategies in safeguarding public health.

Key academic achievements include:

1. Systematically revealed regional and disease-specific associations of temperature-related health impacts, including climate-attributable excess mortality and disease burden.

2. Identified critical exposure window periods and mechanisms linking prenatal heat exposure to adverse birth outcomes, and identified interactive effects of heat on preterm birth under socioeconomic and environmental factors.

3. Demonstrated the health benefits and cost-effectiveness of climate adaptation measures and Dual-Carbon policies.

He has led major projects such as the National Key R&D Program project "Health Risk Assessment, Early Signal Detection, and Response Strategies for Climate Change", where he was appointed Chief Scientist, as well as grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, UNICEF, Energy Foundation, and Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN). He has also advised government agencies including the China Meteorological Administration and the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration.

Publications and Recognition

To date, he has authored over 250 peer-reviewed papers in domestic and international journals, including more than 200 SCI-indexed articles in prestigious journals such as Nature Medicine, Nature Climate Change, Nature Communications, Science Bulletin, and The Lancet family journals. He has been consistently ranked among the world’s top 2% scientists by Stanford University. His policy briefs, based on cutting-edge research, have received endorsements from national-level leaders.

Professional Affiliations

— Lead Author for the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report

— Executive Editor-in-Chief of Global Transitions

— Member of the China National Committee for Future Earth

— Vice Chair of multiple committees under the China Sustainable Development Research Association, Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, and Chinese Meteorological Society

— Adjunct Professor at Griffith University, Australia

— Scientific Advisory Board Member of the Asia Climate & Air Pollution Research Program (AIRCAP)

— Reviewer for international funding agencies and editorial board member for several academic journals