PROJECTS | INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY LABORATORY
Ongoing funded projects:
Better Recognition of Exposure to Asthma Triggers in the Home Environment using Smartphones (BREATHE-Smart)
Sponsor: HUD
The overall goal of this project is to develop and validate a rapid, point-of-care system for allergen detection in homes based on smartphone technology.
NSF CAREER Award: Microbial indicators Of Latent Dampness (MOLD)
Sponsor: NSF
The overall goal of this project is to establish an evidence-based measurement target for evaluation of mold growth in homes based on species-independent metabolic processes.
DAGSI Research Proposal, Gene expression in fungi associated with materials degradation in aircraft and fuel systems
Sponsor: Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE)
The goal of this project is to use genomic and transcriptomic analyses to identify genes that are turned on or upregulated during fungal material degradation under varying relative humidity conditions (i.e., varying moisture levels).
Humidity and Microbial growth in ISS Dust (HUMID)
Sponsor: NASA
View Press Release
This project will utilize vacuumed dust to be returned from the ISS from collection in an existing project, “Divert Unwanted Space Trash (DUST).” The goal of this project is to characterize microbial communities and function that may occur on the ISS if areas were to experience high relative humidity and condensation.
- Aim 1: Characterize microbial growth in ISS dust under different relative humidity conditions in a laboratory chamber study.
- Aim 2: Identify potential microbial function that can occur in dust onboard the ISS.
Our results will go beyond microbial measurement to predict moisture-related changes to the indoor microbiome and astronaut exposure.
Urban fungal exposure, sensitization and asthma among a low-income population
Sponsor: HUD, through Columbia University
The goals of this study are to link fungal exposure early in life to the development of allergic sensitization and asthma and to characterize domestic fungal communities and related environmental and behavioral determinants, specifically among children living in lower-income neighborhoods, where asthma is more prevalent and combustion byproduct exposure is higher.
View Press Release
CHEMM: Chemistry of homes – environmental microbes and moisture
Sponsor: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, through the University of Califonia, Berkeley
The goal of this project is to expand our understanding of the roles that microorganisms play in shaping the chemistry of the indoor environment.
Cryptococcus, an Urban Fungus: Early-life Exposure and Allergic Sensitization in Puerto Ricans
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
The goal of this project is to study associations between early-life fungal exposures and allergic sensitization.
Completed funded projects:
Application of the time-of-wetness concept to microbial growth in carpet
Sponsor: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
The goal of this project is to establish methods and feasibility for determining how diurnal daily) variation in relative humidity affects microbial communities and growth in carpet.
Evaluation of fungal growth in household products
Sponsor: The Ohio State University Institute for Materials Research
The goal of this work is study fungal growth in the home environment through microscopy.
Smartphone App for Residential Testing of Formaldehyde (SmART-Form)
Sponsor: NSF
The goal was to develop and launch an accessible, inexpensive and reliable formaldehyde detection technique for use by citizen scientists and concerned citizens.
Microbial Activity in House Dust and Interactions with Phthalate Esters (PEs)
Sponsor: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
The goal was to evaluate microbial activity and function in house dust
NCSE 2017 conference and global forum symposium proposal
Sponsor: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
The goal was to run a symposium titled “Microbiology of the Built Environment: Implications for Health and Design” at NSCE 2017.
Sleep Loss and Environmental Exposures in Asthma Patients (SLEEAP)
Sponsor: The Ohio State University Discovery Themes Sustainable and Resilient Economy
We spend nearly one third of our lives in our bedrooms where we are exposed to a complex mixture of chemicals and microbes that may influence our health. The goal of this study was to determine associations between indoor exposures to microbes and traffic pollutants in the bedroom and asthma control, focusing on sleep disruption.
