Dr Zhiling Guo PhD

Dr Zhiling Guo

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Assistant Professor

Contact details

Address
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr. Zhiling Guo is an environmental toxicologist interested in understanding the connection between human exposure to pollutants (nanomaterial, micro/nano-plastic, air pollutant, organic pollutant, heavy metal, virus, pollen, and emerging pollutants) and life-long health, and the potential underlying mechanisms. Her research also focuses on establishing the 3R alternatives (i.e. in vitro barrier model, organ-on-chip) as enabling technologies to facilitate investigation of the human and environmental impacts of pollution, and to link across different research areas. She is also interested in understanding the effects of pollutants on ecosystems (terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystem), and developing biosensors to detect the traditional and emerging pollutants in the environmental and biological samples.

She has multidisciplinary expertise in different areas including environmental health, material science, environmental toxicology, molecular toxicology, neurotoxicology, nanotoxicology, and aquatic toxicology. She has published over 50 papers in top-tier journals including Nature Protocol, Nature Plants, Nature Communication, PNAS, Water Research, ES&T, Nano Today, ES&T letter, etc. She is an Associate Editor for journal Frontiers in Toxicology and Guest Editor for Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Zhiling-Guo-2

Qualifications

  • BSc. Biotechnology (2008)
  • PhD Marine Ecology (2014)

Teaching

  • BSc Environmental Sciences
  • Global Challenge in the Anthropocene
  • From molecules to materials: Deconstructing the environment

Other activities

  • Outstanding reviewer for Environmental Science: Nano
  • Associate Editor for Frontiers in Toxicology
  • Guest Editor for Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
  • Editorial Board member for Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
  • Full Member of Society of Toxicology
  • Member of Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
  • Full Member of Chinese Society of Toxicology

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Wang, X, Wu, K, Ning, P, Guo, Z, Zhang, P, Wu, L & Lynch, I 2025, 'Construction of glycine modified NZVI@gelatin aerogel for high efficient activation of dissolved oxygen towards catalytic degradation of tetracycline', Journal of Water Process Engineering, vol. 72, 107438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2025.107438

Brinkmann, BW, Guo, Z, Vijver, MG, Peijnenburg, WJGM & Chetwynd, AJ 2025, 'Host and microbiome proteins in eco-coronas: abundance, physicochemical properties and binding partners', Environmental Science: Nano. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5en00493d

Deng, Y, Wang, X, Ning, P, Lynch, I, Guo, Z, Zhang, P & Wu, L 2025, 'In situ growth of N-doped carbon nanotubes encapsulated nZVI as nanoconfinement catalyst for mitigating the hurdles of ferric cations leaching and low oxidant utilization in Fenton-like catalysis', Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 523, 168772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2025.168772

Li, X, Wu, X, Zhang, J, Xie, C, Song, Y, Liu, Y, Zheng, L, Zhang, S, Zhang, P, Vijver, MG, Peijnenburg, WJGM, Lynch, I & Guo, Z 2025, 'Key events relating to homeostasis and regeneration of freshwater planarians (Dugesia Japonica) after exposure to various ZnO-forms', Journal of Hazardous Materials, vol. 493, 138360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.138360

Friedrichs, S, Seitz, C, Bleeker, E, Vandebriel, R, Ouhajji, S, Duistermaat, E, Wiemann, M, Vennemann, A, Katsumiti, A, Buerki-Thurnherr, T, Gupta, G, Wick, P, Ortiz-Galvez, LM, Wu, J, Weltring, K-M, Haase, D, Heunisch, E, Pohl, A, Reilly, K, Guo, Z, Lynch, I, Exner, T, Hagenhoff, B & Breitenstein, D 2025, 'MACRAMÉ - Advanced characterisation methodologies to assess and predict the health and environmental risks of advanced materials', Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, vol. 29, pp. 95-109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2025.03.032

Wang, X, Ge, F, Ning, P, Guo, Z, Zhang, P, Wu, L & Lynch, I 2025, 'Polysaccharide self-crosslinking and refrigerated air-drying interfacial modification: A new approach for konjac glucomannan-guar gum thin film loaded with NZVI for enhanced Cr(VI) removal', Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, vol. 719, 136993. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2025.136993

Lyu, Y, Guo, Z, Li, Z, Zhao, FG, Lynch, I, White, JC, Zhou, D & Zhang, P 2025, 'Prediction of metal nanoparticle interactions with soil properties: machine learning insights into soil health dynamics', ACS Nano, vol. 19, no. 23, pp. 21629-21643. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5c04197

Zhang, P, Cao, M, Chetwynd, AJ, Faserl, K, Abdolahpur Monikh, F, Zhang, W, Ramautar, R, Ellis, LJA, Davoudi, HH, Reilly, K, Cai, R, Wheeler, KE, Martinez, DST, Guo, Z, Chen, C & Lynch, I 2024, 'Analysis of nanomaterial biocoronas in biological and environmental surroundings', Nature protocols, vol. 19, pp. 3000–3047. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41596-024-01009-8

Abdolahpur Monikh, F, Lehtonen, Š, Kekäläinen, J, Karkossa, I, Auriola, S, Schubert, K, Zanut, A, Peltonen, S, Niskanen, J, Bandekar, M, von Bergen, M, Leskinen, JTT, Koistinen, A, Bogialli, S, Guo, Z, Kukkonen, JVK, Chen, C & Lynch, I 2024, 'Biotransformation of nanoplastics in human plasma and their permeation through a model in vitro blood-brain barrier: An in-depth quantitative analysis', Nano Today, vol. 59, 102466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nantod.2024.102466

An, C, Huang, B, Jiang, J, Wang, X, Li, N, Liu, H, Shen, Y, Sun, C, Zhan, S, Li, X, Wang, C, Zeng, Z, Cui, H, Wu, Q, Zhang, Y, Guo, Z, Zhang, P, Lynch, I, Gao, J-M & Wang, Y 2024, 'Design and Synthesis of a Water-Based Nanodelivery Pesticide System for Improved Efficacy and Safety', ACS Nano, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 662-679. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.3c08854

Li, M, Zhang, P, Guo, Z, Zhao, W, Li, Y, Yi, T, Cao, W, Gao, L, Tian, CF, Chen, Q, Ren, F, Rui, Y, White, JC & Lynch, I 2024, 'Dynamic Transformation of Nano-MoS2 in a Soil-Plant System Empowers Its Multifunctionality on Soybean Growth', Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 1211-1222. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c09004

Yang, K, Wang, X, Lynch, I, Guo, Z, Zhang, P & Wu, L 2024, 'Green construction of MBI corrosion-resistant interfaces modified NZVI@MOFs-regulated 3D PAN cryogel film to enhance Cr(VI) removal', Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 333, 125902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2023.125902

Deng, Y, Wang, X, Lynch, I, Guo, Z, Zhang, P, Wu, L, Wu, X & Li, T 2024, 'Homogeneous dispersion of amorphous nanoscale zero-valent iron supported on chlorella-derived biochar: In-situ synthesis and application mechanism for Cr(VI) removal over a wide pH range', Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 330, 125207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2023.125207

Review article

Xie, C, Li, X, Wu, X, Zhang, S, Zhang, P, Vijver, MG, Peijnenburg, WJGM, Pang, Q, Lynch, I & Guo, Z 2025, 'Bridging planarian bioassays and AOP-based environmental assessment: Toward mechanistic insights into pollutant-induced disruptions', Environmental Research, vol. 286, no. Part 1, 122787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2025.122787

Liu, N, Li, Z, Cheng, S, Monikh, FA, Ye, Z, Ma, T, Zheng, L, Wang, X, Ni, B-J, Chen, Z, Jiang, B, Zhang, P, Guo, Z & Lynch, I 2025, 'Extracting and characterizing microplastics and nanoplastics from environmental samples', Nature protocols. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41596-025-01276-z

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