Supervisor for Doctoral and Master's Students

Dr. Cai has long been engaged in research on the exposure risks and health effects of environmental pollutants. By assessing both internal and external exposure levels of emerging environmental contaminants, she investigates their health impacts and underlying mechanisms across cellular, animal, and population-based epidemiological levels. She has led 7 research projects funded by national and provincial/ministerial agencies, and has published over 30 scientific papers, including 12 as first or corresponding author in SCI-indexed journals.   

Main research directions :

Her research focuses on the trans-barrier transport (e.g., placental, blood–brain, and intestinal barriers) of emerging pollutants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), ambient air pollutants, and tire rubber antioxidants, as well as their roles in maternal and child health, childhood growth and development, and adolescent sleep, immune, and neurological disorders.

Representative academic achievements：

1.Effects of Serum Insulin and Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 Levels on the Association between Fetal Growth and Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Exposure Based on a Nested Case−Control Study, Environmental Science & Technology, 2025.

2.Fetal glucocorticoid mediates the association between prenatal per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances exposure and neonatal growth index: evidence from a birth cohort study. Environmental Science & Technology, 2023.

2.The Mediation Role of the Placental IGF1 Signaling Pathway on Associations between Prenatal PFAS Exposure and Adverse Birth Outcomes: Evidence from Serial Mediation Models. Environmental Science & Technology, 2025.

3.Association between prenatal PFAS exposure and catch-up growth in children born with adverse outcomes: evidence from a prospective cohort study. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2025.

4.F-53B-induced placental vascular endothelial dysfunction leads to intrauterine growth retardation of fetal mice.Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 2025.

5.Prenatal Exposure to Legacy and Alternative Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Neuropsychological Development Trajectories over the First 3 Years of Life. Environmental Science & Technology, 2023.

Main academic positions:

Member of the Council: Guangdong Society of Environmental Mutagenesis

Guangdong Society of Tropical Medicine

Youth Editorial Board: International Journal of Environmental Epidemiology

Special Issue Editor: Toxics

Reviewer: Environmental Science & Technology

Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances

Human Cell

E-mail：caid1229@jnu.edu.cn