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William Kuang-Yao Pan

Elizabeth Brooks Reid and Whitelaw Reid Associate Professor
Environmental Sciences and Policy
90519, 310 Trent Drive, Rm 227, Durham, NC 27708
310 Trent Drive, Room 227, Box 90519, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


William Pan, DrPH, Elizabeth Brooks Reid and Whitelaw Reid Professor of Population Studies and Global Environmental Health, joined the faculty at Duke in 2011. He holds a joint appointment at DGHI and the Nicholas School of Environment, and is Adjunct Professor in the Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is a biostatistician with expertise in spatial analysis, demography land use science, infectious disease epidemiology and environmental health.  He has over 20-years of experience leading large, multi-institutional and interdisciplinary research teams to study the impact of human-environment dynamics influencing human health in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).  His work is primarily focused in Latin America, particularly the Amazon region.  His current research focuses on: (1) studying the health effects of mercury and other chemical exposures from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM); (2) developing tools for forecasting vector-borne disease risk, focusing particularly on the integration and modeling of climate, land use, population and malaria surveillance data; (3) studying the role of migration and social network connectivity influencing infectious disease transmission; (4) understanding the risk of lead exposure among hunters and their families, and to identify solutions to mitigate that risk; and (5) evaluating multi-faceted benefits of nature-based solutions related to agroforestry, climate resilience, livelihoods, and disease mitigation.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Elizabeth Brooks Reid and Whitelaw Reid Associate Professor · 2019 - Present Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment
Professor of Global Environmental Health · 2024 - Present Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment
Research Professor of Global Health · 2024 - Present Duke Global Health Institute, University Institutes and Centers
Faculty Research Scholar of DuPRI's Population Research Center · 2010 - Present Duke Population Research Center, Duke Population Research Institute

In the News


Published February 3, 2025
Celebrating Duke’s New Full Professors
Published November 3, 2023
Gulf War Illness Found to Attack White Blood Cells’ Ability to Make Energy
Published October 25, 2023
Prenatal Exposure to Lead Linked to Lower Birth Weights, Earlier Births in Gold Mining Communities

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Recent Publications


Mercury Levels in Hair of Pregnant Women in Tumbes, Peru: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Journal Article The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · January 2025 Mercury, a potent toxin that poses serious risks to human health, particularly for pregnant women and young children, is widely present due to artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), which impacts water quality. The objective of this study was to eva ... Full text Cite

Diet choices determine mercury exposure risks for people living in gold mining regions of Peru

Journal Article Environmental Research: Health · September 1, 2024 AbstractArtisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is the largest global anthropogenic mercury (Hg) source and is widespread in the Peruvian Amazon. Consuming Hg-laden foods exposes people to this potent n ... Full text Cite

Contributions of Initial Conditions and Meteorological Forecast to Subseasonal-to-Seasonal Hydrological Forecast Skill in Western Tropical South America.

Journal Article Journal of hydrometeorology · May 2024 Hydrological predictions at subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) time scales can support improved decision-making in climate-dependent sectors like agriculture and hydropower. Here, we present an S2S hydrological forecasting system (S2S-HFS) for western tropical ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


Duke University Program in Environmental Health

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2029

Effectively Linking Molecular Informatics and Network Analytics to Reduce Malaria (ELIMINAR-Malaria)

ResearchMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2028

Improving Response to Malaria Outbreaks in Amazon-Basin Countries

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases · 2021 - 2026

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