Shengwei Zhu
Harvard University · Environmental Health
Active 2003–2024
About
Shengwei Zhu is an environmental scientist interested in the control of thermal comfort and air quality in indoor environments, where people usually spend over 95% of their lifetime. He received a BS in mechanical engineering from Zhejiang University in China in 1996, followed by an MS in 2001 and a PhD in 2005 in architecture from the University of Tokyo, Japan. After completing his doctoral studies, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), University of Tokyo, and since December 2006, he has been a Hans Christian Ørsted postdoctoral fellow at the International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy (ICIEE), Technical University of Denmark. Shengwei Zhu has developed strong expertise in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of distributions of physical properties such as velocity, air temperature, and contaminants in indoor environments, which result from complex interactions between occupants and their surroundings involving air, heat, humidity, and multiple contaminants. His work focuses on developing advanced methods for air distribution in occupied spaces with an emphasis on protecting people from airborne transmission of infectious diseases. As a Ziff Environmental Fellow, he collaborated with John Spengler at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health to develop effective mechanical ventilation methods to reduce in-bus airborne infection transmission caused by exhalation, coughing, and walking, based on CFD simulations and mathematical epidemiology models. His research aims to improve ventilation system performance in vehicles such as buses, trains, trams, and metros, addressing the significant public health concern of airborne disease transmission during transit.
Research topics
- Environmental science
- Medicine
- Biology
- Meteorology
- Computer Science
- Toxicology
- Biochemistry
- Microbiology
- Demography
- Immunology
- Internal medicine
- Simulation
- Engineering
- Geography
- Mechanical engineering
- Automotive engineering
Selected publications
Energy savings and thermal comfort evaluation of a novel personal conditioning device
Energy and Buildings · 2021 · 16 citations
- Computer Science
- Automotive engineering
- Computer Science
Environment International · 2020 · 74 citations
1st authorCorresponding- Medicine
- Environmental science
- Toxicology
concentrations when compared to those values in the rooms located at the windward side of the building. Average ventilation rates in twenty LVB dormitory rooms increased from 2.3 L/s to 7.5 L/s by opening windows, 3.6 L/s by opening doors, and 8.8 L/s by opening both windows and doors. Therefore, opening both windows and doors in the LVB dormitory rooms can increase ventilation rates to the levels comparable to those in the HVB. But it can also have a negative effect on thermal comfort due to low outdoor temperatures. Simulation results identified an aerobiologic pathway from a room occupied by an index case of influenza A to a room occupied by a possible secondary case.
Medicinal Research Reviews · 2020 · 166 citations
- Biology
- Immunology
- Microbiology
In a complex, diverse intestinal environment, commensal microbiota metabolizes excessive dietary tryptophan to produce more bioactive metabolites connecting with kinds of diverse process, such as host physiological defense, homeostasis, excessive immune activation and the progression and outcome of different diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome and others. Although commensal microbiota includes bacteria, fungi, and protozoa and all that, they often have the similar metabolites in tryptophan metabolism process via same or different pathways. These metabolites can work as signal to activate the innate immunity of intestinal mucosa and induce the rapid inflammation response. They are critical in reconstruction of lumen homeostasis as well. This review aims to seek the potential function and mechanism of microbiota-derived tryptophan metabolites as targets to regulate and shape intestinal immune function, which mainly focused on two aspects. First, analyze the character of tryptophan metabolism in bacteria, fungi, and protozoa, and assess the functions of their metabolites (including indole and eight other derivatives, serotonin (5-HT) and d-tryptophan) on regulating the integrity of intestinal epithelium and the immunity of the intestinal mucosa. Second, focus on the mediator and pathway for their recognition, transfer and crosstalk between microbiota-derived tryptophan metabolites and intestinal mucosal immunity. Disruption of intestinal homeostasis has been described in different intestinal inflammatory diseases, available data suggest the remarkable potential of tryptophan-derived aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonists, indole derivatives on lumen equilibrium. These metabolites as preventive and therapeutic interventions have potential to promote proinflammatory or anti-inflammatory responses of the gut.
Frequent coauthors
- 86 shared
Zhiyong Wang
Hainan University
- 50 shared
Yu Sun
Hebei Normal University
- 50 shared
Haoquan Hu
Dalian University of Technology
- 48 shared
Jun Zhao
Inner Mongolia Agricultural University
- 44 shared
Wenqiang Tang
Tibet Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences
- 40 shared
Tae‐Wuk Kim
Hanyang University
- 40 shared
Zhiping Deng
University of Alberta
- 40 shared
Shinsuke Kato
The University of Tokyo
Labs
Harvard University Center for the EnvironmentPI
Education
- 2005
Ph.D., Architecture
University of Tokyo
- 1996
B.S., Mechanical Engineering
Zhejiang University
Awards & honors
- Ziff Environmental Fellow (2008-2010)
- Hans Christian Ørsted postdoctoral fellow at the Internation…
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