Engineering indoor microbiomes to create sustainable indoor environments

加拿大人90%的时间都在室内，暴露在各种污染物中。在室内环境中暴露于霉菌和潮湿与哮喘、上呼吸道感染、咳嗽和喘息等负面健康影响高度相关。室内潮湿和霉菌最常见于社会经济地位低的社区，因为住房质量差，处理破坏性环境事件的资源较少。这一问题对加拿大各地的土著社区尤为紧迫，因为这些社区的住房不达标，而且容易受到气候变化的影响。随着气候变化的继续，洪水和潮湿天气事件将增加，导致房屋中更多的霉菌和潮湿。当湿度水平高时，真菌微生物（霉菌）可以在地毯灰尘中繁殖。不幸的是，模具检测、预测和控制方面的进展有限。至关重要的是，我们要扩大对室内微生物组（室内环境中的微生物群落）的了解，以对抗负面的健康结果，并指导公平的室内空间的设计。该研究计划的长期目标是1）推进我们对室内真菌和细菌相互作用的基本理解，2）完成深入研究以限制微生物生长和环境暴露，3）产生解决方案和新方法以创造公平，可持续和健康的室内环境。为实现这些目标，我的短期研究目标如下：1。开发和研究方法来模拟和预测室内环境中由于湿度增加而导致的微生物生长2.评估低社会经济地位和土著社区的真菌生长预测模型，以制定改善室内环境质量的策略。通过RNA元转录组学和生物信息学过程提高我们对室内真菌和细菌相互作用的理解这项研究提案的结果将导致霉菌预测和霉菌生长建模集成到建筑系统技术中的重要进展。作为学习如何控制室内微生物的重要一步，这项研究将导致减少室内有害霉菌生长的新方法。将探索新的抗微生物材料，并扩大在室内环境中使用有益微生物的知识。 这项研究将由2名博士生，1名MASc学生和5名本科生完成，他们将获得建筑科学，环境工程和室内微生物学研究的重要技能。我们迫切需要高素质的人才（HQP），他们是建筑科学和室内微生物组的专家，特别是随着气候变化继续对我们的建筑系统造成严重破坏，增加了潮湿和霉菌的暴露。这将使HQP能够满足劳动力的重大需求，并为公平和健康的建筑环境开发创新方法。

Canadians spend 90% of their time indoors, where they are exposed to a variety of contaminants. Exposure to mould and dampness in indoor environments is highly associated with negative health impacts such as asthma, upper respiratory infections, coughing, and wheezing. Indoor dampness and mould are found most frequently in low-socioeconomic status communities due to poor quality housing and less resources to deal with damaging environmental events. This issue is particularly pressing for Indigenous communities across Canada, where substandard housing is combined with vulnerability to climate change. As climate change continues, flooding and wet weather events will increase, causing more mould and dampness in housing. Fungal microorganisms (moulds) can thrive in carpet dust when humidity levels are high. Unfortunately, advancements in mould detection, prediction and control are limited. It is critical that we expand our knowledge of the indoor microbiome (the community of microbes in an indoor environment) to combat negative health outcomes and guide the design of equitable indoor spaces. The long-term goals of the research program are to 1) advance our fundamental understanding of fungal and bacterial interactions indoors, 2) complete in-depth studies to limit microbial growth and environmental exposures, and 3) produce solutions and new approaches to create equitable, sustainable, and healthy indoor environments. My short-term research objectives to achieve these goals are as follows: 1. Develop and investigate means to model and predict microbial growth in indoor environments due to increased moisture 2. Evaluate fungal growth prediction models in low-socioeconomic status and Indigenous communities to develop strategies for improving indoor environmental quality 3. Improve our understanding of indoor fungal and bacterial interactions through RNA metatranscriptomics and bioinformatics processes Results from this research proposal will lead to important advancements in mould prediction and the integration of mould growth modeling into building system technology. As an essential step in learning how to control indoor microbes, this research will lead to new methods for reducing harmful mould growth indoors. New anti-microbial materials will be explored and knowledge of the use of beneficial microorganisms in indoor environments will be expanded. This research will be accomplished by 2 PhD students, 1 MASc student and ~5 undergraduates who will gain significant skills in building science, environmental engineering, and indoor microbiology research. There is a critical need for highly qualified personnel (HQP) who are experts in both building science and the indoor microbiome particularly as climate change continues to wreak havoc on our building systems, increasing exposure to dampness and mould. This will position HQP to fill a significant need in the workforce and develop innovative approaches for equitable and healthy built environments.