Dongqing Wang, PhD, MPH

Dr. Dongqing Wang is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Global and Community Health at George Mason University College of Public Health. Dr. Wang’s research focuses on the nutritional determinants of maternal, child, and adolescent health in low- and middle-income countries. The overarching objective of his research program is to inform the design and implementation of nutrition interventions that improve the short- and long-term health of mothers, children, and adolescents in resource-poor settings. Under this overarching objective, Dr. Wang’s research program is divided into three interconnected research themes. The first domain of Dr. Wang’s work is the impacts of maternal nutrient and food supplementation, both prenatally and postnatally, on maternal and child health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. The second domain of his research is the determinants and consequences of inadequate and excessive gestational weight gain. Finally, Dr. Wang is interested in adolescent nutrition and school-based interventions to address the double burden of adolescent malnutrition. Dr. Wang's research frequently involves the harmonization and meta-analyses of individual participant data from previous randomized controlled trials. Dr. Wang is the investigator of several ongoing randomized controlled trials of nutritional interventions among mothers, children, and adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Research led by Dr. Wang has been published in high-impact journals such as The Lancet Global Health, The International Journal of Epidemiology, BMJ Global Health, and The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In 2021, Dr. Wang received the title of "Emerging Leader in Nutrition Science" by the American Society for Nutrition. In 2024, Dr. Wang won the Early Career Research Competition Award of the American Society for Nutrition. A nutritional epidemiologist by training, Dr. Wang received his Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan and completed his postdoctoral training at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Research and Scholarship 

Research Interests

• Nutritional epidemiology
• Nutritional intervention
• Maternal and child health
• Adolescent health
• Global health

Selected Publications 

• Wang D, Liu E, Perumal N, Partap U, Cliffer IR, Costa JC, Wang M, Fawzi WW; Gestational Weight Gain Pooling Project Consortium. The effects of prenatal multiple micronutrient supplementation and small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplementation on small vulnerable newborn types in low-income and middle-income countries: a meta-analysis of individual participant data. Lancet Glob Health. 2025 Feb;13(2):e298-e308. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(24)00449-2. PMID: 39890230; PMCID: PMC11782989.
• Wang D, Partap U, Liu E, Costa JC, Cliffer IR, Wang M, Nookala SK, Subramoney V, Briggs B, Ahmed I, Argaw A, Ariff S, Bhandari N, Chowdhury R, Erchick D, García-Guerra A, Ghaffarpour M, Hanley-Cook G, Huybregts L, Jehan F, Kaseb F, Krebs NF, Lachat C, Lama TP, Manandhar DS, McClure EM, Moore SE, Muhammad A, Neufeld LM, Prentice AM, Quezada-Sánchez AD, Roberfroid D, Saville NM, Shafiq Y, Shrestha BP, Sonko B, Soofi S, Taneja S, Tielsch JM, Toe LC, Valaei N, Fawzi WW. The effect of prenatal balanced energy and protein supplementation on gestational weight gain: An individual participant data meta-analysis in low- and middle-income countries. PLoS Med. 2025 Feb 3;22(2):e1004523. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004523. PMID: 39899474; PMCID: PMC11790098.
• Wang D, Katalambula LK, Modest AR, Ismail A, Malero A, Bray D, Cinq-Mars H, Tinkasimile A, Sando MM, Vuai S, Fawzi WW. Meals, Education, and Gardens for In-School Adolescents: A Cluster Randomized Trial of an Adolescent Nutrition Intervention Package in Tanzania. J Adolesc Health. 2024 Apr 8:S1054-139X(24)00124-1. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.02.032. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38597842.
• Wang D, Shahab-Ferdows S, Lweno ON, Hampel D, Method B, Yelverton CA, Nguyen CH*, Aboud S, Allen LH, Fawzi WW. The effects of prenatal and postnatal high-dose vitamin B-12 supplementation on human milk vitamin B-12: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in Tanzania. Am J Clin Nutr. 2024 Mar;119(3):730-739. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.07.023. Epub 2023 Nov 30. PMID: 38432714. 
• Wang D, Adedokun OA, Millogo O, Madzorera I, Hemler EC, Workneh F, Mapendo F, Lankoande B, Ismail A, Chukwu A, Assefa N, Abubakari SW, Lyatuu I, Okpara D, Abdullahi YY, Zabre P, Vuai S, Soura AB, Smith ER, Sie A, Oduola AMJ, Killewo J, Berhane Y, Baernighausen T, Asante KP, Raji T, Mwanyika-Sando M, Fawzi WW. The Continued Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Education and Mental Health Among Sub-Saharan African Adolescents. J Adolesc Health. 2023 Apr;72(4):535-543. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.11.012. Epub 2022 Nov 28. PMID: 36635187; PMCID: PMC9701646.
• Wang D, Darling AM, McDonald CR, Perumal N, Liu E, Wang M, Aboud S, Urassa W, Conroy AL, Hayford KT, Liles WC, Kain KC, Fawzi WW. Plasma concentrations of leptin at mid-pregnancy are associated with gestational weight gain among pregnant women in Tanzania: a prospective cohort study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2021 Oct 6;21(1):675. doi: 10.1186/s12884-021-04146-0. PMID: 34615489; PMCID: PMC8495974.
• Wang D, Schwinger C, Urassa W, Berhane Y, Strand TA, Fawzi WW. Comparing Attained Weight and Weight Velocity during the First 6 Months in Predicting Child Undernutrition and Mortality. J Nutr. 2022 Jan 11;152(1):319-330. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxab338. PMID: 34549299; PMCID: PMC8754579.
• Wang D, Shinde S, Young T, Fawzi WW. Impacts of school feeding on educational and health outcomes of school-age children and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Glob Health. 2021;11:04051. doi: 10.7189/jogh.11.04051. eCollection 2021. PMID: 34552720; PMCID: PMC8442580.
• Wang D, Natchu UCM, Darling AM, Noor RA, Hertzmark E, Urassa W, Fawzi WW. Effects of prenatal and postnatal maternal multiple micronutrient supplementation on child growth and morbidity in Tanzania: a double-blind, randomized-controlled trial. Int J Epidemiol. 2022 Dec 13;51(6):1761-1774. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyab117. PMID: 34151973; PMCID: PMC9749718.
• Wang D, Wang M, Darling AM, Perumal N, Liu E, Danaei G, Fawzi WW. Gestational weight gain in low-income and middle-income countries: a modelling analysis using nationally representative data. BMJ Glob Health. 2020 Nov;5(11). doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003423. PMID: 33177038; PMCID: PMC7661366.

Awards

• Winner of Early Career Research Award Competition, American Society for Nutrition, 2024
• Emerging Leader in Nutrition Science, American Society for Nutrition, 2021

Affiliations

• Editorial Board Member, BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
• Member, American Society for Nutrition
• Member, Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research

Degrees

• PhD, Epidemiology, University of Michigan
• MPH, Epidemiology, University of Michigan
• MBBS, Clinical Medicine, Peking University