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Max Aung’s research focuses on characterizing the underlying mechanisms that link environmental exposures to adverse reproductive and developmental outcomes. Humans are exposed to dozens of environmental contaminants everyday, and pregnant women and developing fetuses are especially vulnerable to the toxic effects of these exposures. Max investigates the potential effects that prenatal exposures to mixtures of environmental toxicants have on circulating biomarkers of inflammation during pregnancy. Max also seeks to elucidate epigenetic mechanisms—chemical modifications to DNA that impact gene expression—associated with environmental exposures. For his research, Max integrates advanced statistical methods in dimension reduction, variable selection, and machine learning techniques to analyze high-dimensional biomarker data. Max currently conducts his analyses in two prospective birth cohorts: LIFECODES and the Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI) Study. By understanding these relationships, Max hopes to advance the field of environmental epidemiology to inform environmental health policy.
MORE ABOUT MAX
Max Aung earned his PhD in Environmental Health Sciences and MPH in Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology at the University of Michigan, and his BS in Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Max also brings unique perspectives through his trans-disciplinary work in sustainability as a previous Dow Sustainability Fellow.
