• Exposome/Exposomics
• Mixture Analysis
• Multi-omics Analysis
• Environmental Health Data Science
• Precision Environmental Health

Although health and disease are affected by both genes and environment, on average, genetics alone only explains 30–50% of their risks. Identifying the elusive environmental drivers and deciphering the connections in the exposure-disease continuum remain grand challenges in the coming decades and are the key motivations behind Jake Chung’s work.

The exposome encompasses life-course environmental exposures and complements the concept of the genome. Exposomics, a rapidly emerging field, helps scientists to uncover the impacts of complex mixture exposures.

Jake’s group aims to develop and utilize various tools and approaches to decode the exposome and understand the health impacts arising from the environment. The group strives to deliver tangible and innovative solutions that contribute to personalized medicine and to a sustainable society.

Jake Chung is an exposure biologist with a PhD degree in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley. At the Berkeley Center for Exposure Biology, he developed innovative methods for assessing human exposure to reactive chemicals. After graduation, Jake received training in exposomics at the National Taiwan University and the Duke Kunshan University before further specialization in environmental health and biomedical data sciences at Harvard Medical School. His central research goal is to develop and apply measurement and computational methods to identify the elusive environmental drivers of diseases and decipher their intricate connections within the exposure-disease continuum.

Jake has published in leading environmental journals such as Environmental Health Perspectives and Environmental Science & Technology, and was interviewed by news and magazine journalists regarding his investigations. He was also invited to Sweden to conduct a technology transfer of one of his innovative assays. In addition, he has served as a grant reviewer for the Medical Research Council, UK and as an article reviewer for several international journals, including Lancet Planetary Health and Environment International.

1. Full Travel Grant, NIEHS Autism Grantee Meeting (2018)
2. Full Travel Grant, Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (Top 15% of ~100 Applicants from 29 Countries across the World) (2016)
3. Summer Fellowship, Graduate Division, University of California, Berkeley (2011 – 2012)
4. Scholarship, Public Health Alumni Association, University of California, Berkeley (2011)

1. Chung MK, House JS, Akhtari FS, Makris KC, Langston MA, Islam KT, Holmes P, Chadeau-Hyam M, Smirnov AI, Du X, Thessen AE, Cui Y, Zhang K, Manrai AK, Motsinger-Reif A, Patel CJ, Consortium M of the E, Adamu Y, Adebamowo C, Akhtari F, Zhu Y, et al. Decoding the exposome: Data science methodologies and implications in exposome-wide association studies (ExWASs). 2024;4(1). doi:10.1093/exposome/osae001.
2. Chung MK, Hart B, Santillana M, Patel CJ. Pediatric and young adult household transmission of the initial waves of SARS-CoV-2 in the united states: administrative claims study. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2024;26(1):e44249. doi:10.2196/44249.
3. Chung MK, Caboni M, Strandwitz P, D’Onofrio A, Lewis K, Patel CJ. Systematic comparisons between Lyme disease and post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome in the U.S. with administrative claims data. 2023;90:104524. doi:10.1016/j.ebiom.2023.104524.
4. Fard P, Chung MK, Estiri H, Patel CJ. Spatio-temporal interpolation and delineation of extreme heat events in california between 2017 and 2021. Environmental Research. 2023;237:116984. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2023.116984.
5. Patel CJ, Claypool KT, Chow E, Chung MK, Mai D, Chen J, Bendavid E. The demographic and socioeconomic correlates of behavior and HIV infection status across sub-Saharan Africa. Communications Medicine. 2022;2(1):104-. doi:10.1038/s43856-022-00170-z.
6. Chung MK, Smith MR, Lin Y, Walker DI, Jones D, Patel CJ, Kong SW. Plasma metabolomics of autism spectrum disorder and influence of shared components in proband families. 2021;1(1). doi:10.1093/exposome/osab004.
7. Nguyen VK, Colacino J, Chung MK, Le Goallec A, Jolliet O, Patel CJ. Characterising the relationships between physiological indicators and all-cause mortality (NHANES): A population-based cohort study. The Lancet Healthy Longevity. 2021;2(10):e651-e662. doi:10.1016/s2666-7568(21)00212-9.
8. Chung MK, Rappaport SM, Wheelock CE, Nguyen VK, van der Meer TP, Miller GW, Vermeulen R, Patel CJ. Utilizing a biology-driven approach to map the exposome in health and disease: An essential investment to drive the next generation of environmental discovery. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2021;129(8). doi:10.1289/ehp8327. (Commentary)
9. van der Meer TP, Chung MK, van Faassen M, Makris KC, van Beek AP, Kema IP, Wolffenbuttel BHR, van Vliet-Ostaptchouk J V., Patel CJ. Temporal exposure and consistency of endocrine disrupting chemicals in a longitudinal study of individuals with impaired fasting glucose. Environmental Research. 2021;197:110901. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2021.110901.
10. Chung MK, Hu R, Cheung KC, Wong MH. Pollutants in hong kong soils: Organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls. Published online February 27, 2020:2020.02.16.951541. doi:10.1101/2020.02.16.951541.
11. Chung MK, Cheung KC, Wong MH. Pollutants in Hong Kong soils: As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn. Published online February 27, 2020:2020.02.16.951558. doi:10.1101/2020.02.16.951558.
12. Claypool KT, Chung MK, Deonarine A, Gregg EW, Patel CJ. Characteristics of undiagnosed diabetes in men and women under the age of 50 years in the Indian subcontinent: The national family health survey (NFHS-4)/demographic health survey 2015 – 2016. BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care. 2020;8(1):965. doi:10.1136/bmjdrc-2019-000965.
13. Chung MK, Patel CJ. The exposome: An approach toward a comprehensive study of exposures in disease. Encyclopedia of Environmental Health. Published online January 1, 2019:770-779. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-409548-9.10645-1.
14. Chung MK, Buck Louis GM, Kannan K, Patel CJ. Exposome-wide association study of semen quality: Systematic discovery of endocrine disrupting chemical biomarkers in fertility require large sample sizes. Environment International. 2019;125:505-514. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2018.11.037.
15. Chung MK, Kannan K, Louis GM, Patel CJ. Toward capturing the exposome: Exposure biomarker variability and coexposure patterns in the shared environment. Environmental Science and Technology. 2018;52(15):8801-8810. doi:10.1021/acs.est.8b01467.
16. Cui X, Li F, Xiang J, Fang L, Chung MK, Day DB, Mo J, Weschler CJ, Gong J, He L, Zhu D, Lu C, Han H, Zhang Y, Zhang J (Jim). Cardiopulmonary effects of overnight indoor air filtration in healthy non-smoking adults: A double-blind randomized crossover study. Environment International. 2018;114:27-36. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2018.02.010.
17. Day DB, Xiang J, Mo J, Clyde MA, Weschler CJ, Li F, Gong J, Chung M, Zhang Y, Zhang J. Combined use of an electrostatic precipitator and a high-efficiency particulate air filter in building ventilation systems: Effects on cardiorespiratory health indicators in healthy adults. Indoor Air. 2018;28(3):360-372. doi:10.1111/ina.12447.
18. Day DB, Xiang J, Mo J, Li F, Chung M, Gong J, Weschler CJ, Ohman-Strickland PA, Sundell J, Weng W, Zhang Y, Zhang JJ. Association of ozone exposure with cardiorespiratory pathophysiologic mechanisms in healthy adults. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2017;177(9):1344-1353. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.2842.
19. Yuan TH, Chung MK, Lin CY, Chen ST, Wu KY, Chan CC. Metabolic profiling of residents in the vicinity of a petrochemical complex. Science of the Total Environment. 2016;548-549:260-269. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.033.
20. Chung MK, Grigoryan H, Iavarone AT, Rappaport SM. Antibody enrichment and mass spectrometry of albumin-Cys34 adducts. Chemical Research in Toxicology. 2013;27(3):400-407. doi:10.1021/tx400337k.