Conference: Human, Engineering, and Scientific Aspects of Disease Transmission in Natural and Built Environments

该NSF奖将支持一个题为“自然和建筑环境中疾病传播的人类、工程和科学方面”的研讨会。该研讨会将于2023年秋季在弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿的弗吉尼亚理工大学行政简报中心举行。会议的总体目标是讨论和总结该领域的现状，包括1)病原体和疾病如何在自然和建筑环境中传播以及2)人类行为如何影响和影响病原体/疾病在自然/建筑环境和社区内的传播、缓解和预防。与会者包括环境工程师、环境科学家、流行病学家、政策制定者和其他利益相关者。与会者将交流思想，促进新的融合研究概念的发展，重点关注社区内室内和室外疾病传播的主题。美国国家科学基金会的资金将使研讨会组织者能够为受邀演讲者、博士后学者、研究生和来自代表性不足群体的初级教师提供旅行资助。提议的研讨会将由弗吉尼亚理工大学土木与环境工程系组织。会议的目标是：(1)催化和促进工程师、科学家、卫生专业人员、社会科学家和其他在病原体/疾病传播、预防、控制和缓解方面具有互补专业知识的人员之间的知识交流；(2)识别和描述自然/人造环境和社区内病原体/疾病传播、缓解和预防的科学和工程方面的关键知识差距；(3)促进互补性研究小组的联网，以增强未来和跨学科研究合作的潜力，以推进病原体/疾病传播和缓解以及大流行准备和预防的基础科学和工程。会议的预期成果将包括起草、编写和出版一份报告和一篇同行评议的专题文章，讨论并提出评估和减轻疾病在自然/建筑环境和社区内传播的新的整体方法。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This NSF award will support a workshop entitled Human, Engineering, and Scientific Aspects of Disease Transmission in Natural and Built Environments. The workshop will be held during Fall 2023 at the Virginia Tech Executive Briefing Center in Arlington, Virginia. The overarching goal of the conference is to discuss and summarize the current state of the field including the latest advances and critical knowledge gaps on 1) how pathogens and diseases are transmitted in natural and built environments and 2) how human behavior affects and impacts pathogen/disease transmission, mitigation, and prevention in natural/built environments and within communities. Workshop attendees will include environmental engineers, environmental scientists, epidemiologists, policymakers, and other stakeholders. Attendees will exchange ideas and promote the development of new convergent research concepts focused on the topic of indoor and outdoor disease transmission within communities. NSF funding will enable the workshop organizers to provide travel grants to invited speakers, post-doctoral scholars, graduate students, and junior faculty from underrepresented groups. The proposed workshop will be organized by the Virginia Tech Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The goals of the conference are to (1) catalyze and facilitate the exchange of knowledge between engineers, scientists, health professionals, social scientists, and others with complementary expertise in pathogen/disease transmission, prevention, control, and mitigation; (2) identify and delineate critical knowledge gaps in the science and engineering of pathogen/disease transmission, mitigation, and prevention in natural/built environments and within communities; and (3) facilitate the networking of complementary groups of researchers to enhance the potential for future and transdisciplinary research collaborations to advance the fundamental science and engineering of pathogen/disease transmission and mitigation, and pandemic preparedness and prevention. The expected outcomes of the conference will include the drafting, development, and publications of a report and a peer-reviewed feature article that will discuss and suggest new, holistic approaches to assess and mitigate disease transmission in natural/built environments and within communities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.