Professional Summary
Dr. Zhang's research is rooted in the interdisciplinary fields of environmental virology, pathogen control, and public health, exploring the pivotal role of the environment in mediating the transmission of human pathogenic viruses. Her work enhances pandemic preparedness by integrating tools from multidisciplinary fields, including environmental engineering, virology, epidemiology, metagenomics, microbial risk modeling, and machine learning.
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/mengyangzhang
Education
Ph.D: George Washington University Washington, DC, 2022 (Environmental Engineering)
M.E: Tsinghua University China, 2017 (Environmental Engineering)
B.E: Hunan University China, 2014 (Water Supply and Drainage Engineering)
Research and Practice Interests
Environmental Virology
Wastewater Based Epidemiology
Sanitation and Disinfection
Infectious Disease
Positions and Work Experience
2026 -To Present Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Cincinnati, OH
2022 -2025 Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, CA
2018 -2021 Graduate student researcher, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH, MD
Publications
Peer Reviewed Publications
Zhang, Mengyang; Leong, Michelle Wei; Mitch, William A; Blish, Catherine A; Boehm, Alexandria (2024). Persistence and free chlorine disinfection of human coronaviruses and their surrogates in water. Applied and environmental microbiology, 90 (4) , e0005524More Information
Zhang, Mengyang; Roldan-Hernandez, Laura; Boehm, Alexandria (2024). Persistence of human respiratory viral RNA in wastewater-settled solids. Applied and environmental microbiology, 90 (4) , e0227223More Information
Zhou, Zhe; Li, Mengqiao; Zhang, Yuxin; Kong, Lingchen; Smith, Virginia F; Zhang, Mengyang; Gulbrandson, Anders J; Waller, Gordon H; Lin, Feng; Liu, Xitong; Durkin, David P; Chen, Hanning; Shuai, Danmeng (2023). Fe-Fe Double-Atom Catalysts for Murine Coronavirus Disinfection: Nonradical Activation of Peroxides and Mechanisms of Virus Inactivation. Environmental science & technology, 57 (9) , 3804-3816More Information
Zhang, Mengyang; Ghosh, Sourish; Li, Mengqiao; Altan-Bonnet, Nihal; Shuai, Danmeng (2022). Vesicle-Cloaked Rotavirus Clusters are Environmentally Persistent and Resistant to Free Chlorine Disinfection. Environmental science & technology, 56 (12) , 8475-8484More Information
Zhang, Mengyang; Altan-Bonnet, Nihal; Shen, Yun; Shuai, Danmeng (2022). Waterborne Human Pathogenic Viruses in Complex Microbial Communities: Environmental Implication on Virus Infectivity, Persistence, and Disinfection. Environmental science & technology, 56 (9) , 5381-5389More Information
Shen, Hongchen; Zhou, Zhe; Wang, Haihuan; Chen, Jiahao; Zhang, Mengyang; Han, Minghao; Shen, Yun; Shuai, Danmeng (2022). Photosensitized Electrospun Nanofibrous Filters for Capturing and Killing Airborne Coronaviruses under Visible Light Irradiation. Environmental science & technology, 56 (7) , 4295-4304More Information
Zhang, Mengyang; Ghosh, Sourish; Kumar, Manish; Santiana, Marianita; Bleck, Christopher K E; Chaimongkol, Natthawan; Altan-Bonnet, Nihal; Shuai, Danmeng (2021). Emerging Pathogenic Unit of Vesicle-Cloaked Murine Norovirus Clusters is Resistant to Environmental Stresses and UV254 Disinfection. Environmental science & technology, 55 (9) , 6197-6205More Information
Shen, Hongchen; Zhou, Zhe; Wang, Haihuan; Zhang, Mengyang; Han, Minghao; Durkin, David P; Shuai, Danmeng; Shen, Yun (2021). Development of Electrospun Nanofibrous Filters for Controlling Coronavirus Aerosols. Environmental science & technology letters, 8 (7) , 545-550More Information
Kerviel, Adeline; Zhang, Mengyang; Altan-Bonnet, Nihal (2021). A New Infectious Unit: Extracellular Vesicles Carrying Virus Populations. Annual review of cell and developmental biology, 37, 171-197More Information