POWRE: Bioaerosols: Gaining Expertise Through Education and Research

0074653米勒建议的研究重点是需要更好地了解生物气溶胶对公众健康的影响。生物气溶胶是空气中的颗粒，它们是活着的或来自曾经活过的有机体。这个问题的复杂性需要一个多学科的方法，将环境工程和微生物学的专业知识结合起来。该项目由两个协同部分组成。在第一个组成部分中，PI将通过环境微生物学的课程工作、公共卫生微生物学的实验室认证计划以及支持实验室活动来获得微生物学方面的专业知识。在第二部分中，国际和平研究所将在现有专家的支持下进行研究。这项研究的目的是收集和检测空气和居室尘埃样本中的内毒素和革兰氏阴性细菌。这项研究是基于这样一个假设，即与房屋灰尘样本相比，空气样本与人类暴露在空气中的过敏原更有相关性。房屋灰尘样本更容易收集，并在之前的哮喘评估中被广泛使用。这些结果将支持对儿童哮喘发病率上升原因的流行病学研究。将利用支助开展探索性工作，以确定推进生物气溶胶研究的可行性。PI在工程学方面有很强的背景，并将通过这个奖项获得生物气雾剂方面的新技能和专业知识，使她能够在职业生涯的相对早期成为一个新研究领域的独立研究员。***

0074653 Miller The proposed research centers on the need to better understand the impact of bioaerosols on public health. Bioaerosols are airborne particles that are living or originated from once-living organisms. The complexity of this problem warrants a multidisciplinary approach, combining expertise in environmental engineering and microbiology. The project consists of two synergistic components. In the first component, the PI will gain expertise in microbiology through a combination of course work in environmental microbiology, a lab-based certification program in Public Health Microbiology, and supporting laboratory activities. In the second component, the PI will conduct research with the support of established experts. The objective of the research is to collect and assay air and settled house dust samples for endotoxin and gram-negative bacteria from homes. This research is based on the hypothesis that air samples are a better correlate with human exposure to airborne allergens compared to house dust samples. House dust samples are easier to collect and have been used extensively in previous asthma evaluations. Results will support epidemiological studies of the causes of increasing asthma rates in children. Support will be used to conduct exploratory work to determine the feasibility of a research thrust in bioaerosols. The PI has a strong background in engineering and will gain access to new skills and expertise in bioaerosols through this award, allowing her to become an independent researcher in a new area of inquiry at a relatively early stage in her career. ***