Prof. Wen-Xiong Wang, is the Chair Professor in the Division of Life Science, HKUST. He entered Xiamen University (at age 15) to study Marine Biology and received his BSc and MSc in Marine Biology in 1984 and 1987, respectively. He went to study in the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in England in early 1989 as a Research Student (on Scholarship). Two years later, he moved to the State University of New York at Stony Brook (USA) to study for his PhD (on Scholarship). In 1996, he obtained his PhD degree in Coastal Oceanography and after a short stay at Stony Brook as a postdoctoral researcher, he came to HKUST as an Assistant Professor in late 1997. In 2003, he was promoted to Associate Professor, Full Professor in 2007, and Chair Professor in 2014.

The final year undergraduate project of Prof. Wang in Xiamen in 1984 was to work on metal toxicity in bivalve larvae, which led to his first scientific publication [Effects of heavy metals on the embryonic development and larval growth of bivalve, Ostrea platicula. Journal of Xiamen University (Natural Sciences) 21: 96-101, 1985, in Chinese]. Research made a major turn in 1991, and he resumed his research interest in metals ecotoxicology, which continues until today.

Research Question

The overall research theme in my laboratory is trace metal ecotoxicology and biogeochemistry in aquatic systems. Such framework includes the transport, speciation, environmental fate, bioavailability, bioaccumulation, toxicity, as well as environmental risk assessment of metals in aquatic environments. Many metals are micronutrients but are also toxic at elevated concentrations. Such ‘dual’ property places metal ecology as one of the most fascinating research areas in ecotoxicology and biogeochemistry. Metal pollution is a major and significant environmental problem in China and other regions, thus we are in a unique geographic position to study metal pollution in China.

We are interested in both the fundamental and applied aspects of metal ecotoxicology and biogeochemistry. We address very fundamental questions such as: how a metal in aquatic environment is taken up by the organisms and subsequently transferred along the food chain? What is the particular bioavailable and toxic metal species? We are studying many ecotoxicologically and biogeochemically important metals such as cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, mercury, methylmercury, selenium, silver, arsenic, and zinc. We are interested in different groups of aquatic organisms displaying extreme diversity in handling and accumulating metals. Such comparative approach offers unique opportunity (yet often not appreciated by others) to study trace metal biology in aquatic environments. We also use model organisms to address fundamental issues in trace metal biology.

In addition to these more fundamental researches, we are particularly interested in studying the metal pollution at local, national and global levels. Different systems are being studied, including the ‘hot spots’ of metal pollution as well as the pristine aquatic environments. It is hoped that a combination of both fundamental and applied metal ecotoxicology will eventually help the management/protection of marine and freshwater environments.

Finally, we are studying nanotoxicology in aquatic systems.

Representative Publications

1. Wang W-X*, Meng J, Weng NY. 2018. Trace metals in oysters: molecular and cellular mechanisms and ecotoxicological impacts. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts 20: 892-912. DOI: 10.1039/c8em00069g
2. Tan QG, Zhou W, Wang W-X*. 2018. Modeling the toxicokinetics of multiple metals in oyster Crassostrea hongkongensis in dynamic estuarine environment. Environmental Science & Technology 52: 484-492.
3. Wang J, Wang A, Wang W-X*. 2017. Evaluation of bioavailability and toxicity of nano-ZnOs in marine fish: Importance of digestive environment. Nanotoxicology 11: 1026-1039.
4. Weng NY, Jiang H, Wang W-X*. 2017. In situ subcellular imaging of copper and zinc in contaminated oysters revealed by nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry. Environmental Science & Technology 51: 14426-14435
5. Wang X, Wu F, Wang W-X*. 2017. In vivo mercury demethylation in a marine fish (Acanthopagrus schlegeli). Environmental Science and Technology 51: 6441−6451