There is a very clearly-defined and significant link between pathogens in air and human health, from pneumonia caused by various kinds of germs to more specific lung infections caused by particular pathogens. Natural environment takes a significant part in controlling and determining the source, pathway, exposure routes and, ultimately, health risk of these pathogens to humans. It is very important to understand the environmental pathways and properties and their link and mechanism in causing diseases in order to protect human lives.

It is a complicated issue that requires a multidisciplinary team to tackle; for instance, medical experts look at the dose of pathogens and how the pathogens get into the body and cause infection, while environmental scientists investigate where and how the pathogens come to the environment. At the moment, medical and environmental scientists usually work separately because of their different research focuses on humans or on the environment, respectively. However, in order to better protect human lives and set up efficient environmental and health policies, we must build links between these disciplines.

It is the aim of this working group to build a network and research capacity to tackle human health problems associated with the outdoor environment and air. The novelty of this working group is that medical and environmental scientists will examine their concerns and problems with a multidisciplinary approach. In the other words, medical experts are no longer looking at pathogens in the human body alone; they are also looking at these pathogens in the environment. This multidisciplinary working group will contribute to the understanding of the environmental process and pathway of pathogens in air and its relationship with the outdoor environment, which leads to the improvement of the environment and human health.

Airpath was funded in 2007 under the Joint Environment and Human Health Programme; NERC, Defra, EA, the MOD, MRC, the Wellcome Trust, ESRC, BBSRC, EPSRC and HPA . The project was successfully completed in December 2008..

Grant Reference: NE/E00881X/1, NE/E008674/1, NE/E008852/1.

Hospital Acquired Infection (HAI) is one of the major problems facing medical services throughout the world. In the UK it is estimated that about 10 per cent of patients acquire an infection whilst in hospital. These infections contribute to both mortality and morbidity, with many thousands thought to die as a result of HAI and with an estimated cost to the health service of over £1 billion.
The causes of HAI are numerous and include poor hygiene, patient overcrowding, high patient throughput, insufficient cleaning and extensive use of broad-spectrum antibiotics. The Prime Minister has just announced a "deep clean" of hospitals, but the problem is really much more severe than just a matter of cleaning. It is now apparent that interventions to prevent or reduce HAI are also hampered by the design of equipment such as ventilators and computer keyboards that can harbour infection and are difficult to sterilise.

What is not widely appreciated is that hospital design is also important in limiting the chances of a patient acquiring an HAI. Choice of building materials, airflow, air conditioning and bed positioning are just a few examples of how building design can influence the risks of HAI.
This project is the result of building up the necessary collaborations (including UCL Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, the Department of Infection at the UCL Institute of Child Health, and Laing O'Rourke) to embark upon a programme of work which will ultimately enable hospitals to be built to resist infection.
Our specific aims are to identify the key components necessary to build a hospital which can resist the deposition, attachment, propagation and dispersion of infectious agents. In this project, we aim to demonstrate that it is possible to use building physics with the requisite multidisciplinary knowledge and technology to create an environment which can reduce the occurrence of infectious agents in hospitals. The project will enable us to make an initial analysis of the relationship between design/construction of a building and the deposition, attachment, propagation and dispersion of infectious agents to provide core evidence to support a full research proposal to an appropriate funding body for deeper empirical research.
Laing O'Rourke is contributing a substantial proportion of the costs of this research in addition to contributions from the Faculties of Engineering Sciences and Biomedicine, all of which complement the award from UCL Research Challenges.

Leader: Nigel Klein, UCL Institute of Child Health, Department of Infection
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/research-challenges/infections/

Funded by the UCL Research Challenges 2007

Funded by ESRC, MRC, NERC, and BBSRC under the Environmental and Social Ecology of Human Infectious Diseases (ESEI)

Infection between animals and humans, and infection spread between humans, provides a major challenge to the health of societies across the world. In our work we bring together a variety of scientists and researchers from a range disciplines, alongside some of those most affected by this disease threat (including those running major sporting venues, the transport industry, and petting zoos). This unique team will then work together to produce the groundwork for a major research application on understanding infection spread, and potential aways in which infection risk can be best managed.

PI: Robin Goodwin - Psychology , Brunel University.

Funded by UCL Institute for Global Health Small Grants

Evidence suggests that spread of airborne viral infections is influenced by physical and social environment as well as intrinsic properties of the pathogen. Thus H3N2 strains of influenza transmit more efficiently in the Guinea Pig model, irrespective of ambient temperatures, than seasonal H1N1. We propose to examine how the environment alters airborne transmission of a human respiratory virus, varicella zoster virus. We have already shown that transmission of VZV in vivo is reduced in tropical environments, resulting later more severe primary infection in adults. Data from these and other studies strongly suggest that African strains transmit more efficiently in tropical climates than European strains and that genetic differences in putative temperature sensitive viral elements may be implicated . We will use well characterised genotyped strains of VZV to examine this phenomenon. By measuring the physical properties of aerosolized strains of VZV in a climate controlled chamber, we will be able to examine the interaction of heat, UV light and humidity with aerodynamic spread and relate this viral genetics and biology. This will allow parameterisation the affect of environment conditions on airborne transmission. The pilot data will contribute to submission of a multidisciplinary MRC grant on climate change and spread of airborne pathogens.

Leader: Dr. Kaman Lai - Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering.

Partner Prof. Judith Breuer - Department of Virology

Funded by EPSRC Challenging Engineering Awards
Grant Reference: EP/G029881/1

Vision: Within the next 10 years, we will revolutionise the way of thinking and practice in infrastructure function, design and construction to create a new environment which resists the 21st century infectious diseases
Why infrastructure is important? Link between infrastructure and infectious diseases
Infrastructure may not stop disease transmission (unless it is the source of pathogens) but infrastructure can reduce the risk and extent of the pathogens reaching and infecting people.
Infrastructure and infectious diseases can be linked in 4 different ways:

• Infrastructure directly kills or removes pathogens
• Infrastructure becomes a source or harbour of pathogens
• Infrastructure creates an environment to facilitate disease transmission
• Infrastructure facilitates other non-engineering control measures during a disease outbreak

Funded by EU FP7 Collaborative projects

Security is still an under-researched area often relying on untested and outdated assumptions, complacency, and lack of peer-review. In reality both the threats and the defenses in this domain have considerably evolved. This project is designed to create a step change in the field. In the long term it will contribute to the eradication of traditional practices where the procurement and design of state-of-the-art security systems, often worth millions of Euros, are driven by simplistic security management principles. In contrast, the RIBS-project will derive a scientific method for security system engineering design that can be challenged and improved over the years, similar to other areas of engineering and physical sciences.

http://www.ribs-project.eu/
      

Funded by EU Directorate-General for Health and Consumers