Project: Dispersion behaviour and health effects of indoor aerosols

Supervisors: Prof. Dudley Shallcross, Dr James Matthews

As a Senior Researcher in the field of Molecular Microbiology and a Public Health Scientist in the UK Health Security Agency, Porton Down developed an interest in Aerosol Science during the recent Global Pandemic where the importance of understanding the dispersion behaviour of Indoor Aerosol is very essential in understanding the transmission of the disease indoors.

The specialist Centre for Doctoral Training in Aerosol Science and University of Bristol supported by EPSRC provided Prem an opportunity to understand aerosol physics and chemistry, learning from a team of renowned international experts and state-of-the-art facilities to further the research in Aerosol Science along with the gained expertise in Molecular Microbiology.

Global Population spends ~90% of their time indoors and Indoor aerosols may contribute to detrimental health effects. The current research will measure the physical and chemical nature of indoor aerosol pollutants produced within the indoor space and investigate the health effects of these aerosols during short/ long term exposure to human population.

Project: Using microfluidic technology to measure and identify biological atmospheric ice-nucleating particles

Supervisors: Prof. Ben Murray, Dr Sally Peyman, Dr Mark Tarn

Prior to joining the CDT, Polly completed the first year of her undergraduate degree in Environmental Science where she discovered a passion for atmospheric science. This led to her converting to Meteorology and Climate Science, with the original aim to become a broadcast meteorologist. Throughout her degree she learnt about processes such as cloud formation and how clouds respond to the emission of aerosol particles, giving her an appreciation of factors that contribute to uncertainties in predicting future climate. This included studying how aerosol can act as cloud condensation nuclei and, more rarely, ice-nucleating particles (INPs), the seeds upon which water vapour or liquid can nucleate into water droplets or ice crystals.

Polly’s project looks at utilising new technologies to better understand how INPs can have a large impact on clouds and climate. Specifically, she will focus on quantifying and identifying biological INPs with microfluidic devices.

Project: Air pollution and the heart

Supervisors: Prof. Holly Shiels, Prof. Sheena Cruickshank, Dr Cyrill Bussy

Joe completed his undergraduate degree in biomedical sciences from the University of Manchester in 2019 before undertaking a masters by research in biochemistry at the University of Nottingham.

Now, Joe is back in Manchester undertaking a project focussing on the cardiovascular impacts of a specific polyaromatic hydrocarbon, phenanthrene. This tricyclic compound is frequently found adsorbed to the surface of PM2.5 derived from the use or combustion of fossil fuels and is therefore a compound of concern for human health. Specifically, Joe is profiling changes in gene expression and immune response in cardiovascular tissue taken from mice exposed to both synthetic and tire-wear-derived phenanthrene over various time courses. This is done using techniques such as single nucleus RNA sequencing, flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry and quantitative PCR. The project also includes a placement with industrial partner Emissions Analytics, who are leaders in testing the real-world particulate emissions released from tire wear.

Project: Deep learning based classification and global analysis of aerosol

Supervisors: Prof. David Topping, Prof. Hugh Coe

Hao graduated from the Zhejiang University with a Master Degree in Energy and Environment Engineering. During his master, Hao carried out research on improving electrostatic removal of particles in industrial flue gas. Since then, Hao has developed a strong interest in aerosols, which led him to join the CDT.

Hao is currently conducting data science research on aerosols at the University of Manchester.

Project: Mechanics of Soft Aerosols

Supervisors: Dr Anton Souslov, Dr Adam Squires

Jamie completed an integrated master’s in Theoretical Physics at the University of Edinburgh in 2021, during which he also studied for a year aboard at Universiteit Utrecht in the Netherlands. During his master’s, he researched bacterial growth in microdroplets, combing modelling with practical biophysics experiments. 

His PhD at the University of Bath combines the areas of Soft Matter Physics and Aerosol Science to investigate how materials that we traditionally think of as soft in nature act as aerosols. This will involve both computational models of soft aerosols as they undergo dynamic interactions with each other and surfaces and experimentally testing models. With soft matter aerosols being relevant to many areas of research, from respiratory aerosols hitting surfaces to viscoelastic hot sand hitting jet engines, Jamie is looking forward to investigating potential future applications of his work. 

Project: Nanoscale analysis of London pollutant particles and their interaction with airway epithelial cells

Supervisors: Prof. Alexandra Porter, Prof. Fan Chung, Prof. Mark Sephton, Prof. DK Arvind

Alexander’s project seeks to identify the regional variation in nanoscale composition of London’s particulate air pollution and to relate the toxicity of each component or mixture to the onset or exacerbation of clinical symptoms observed in healthy and asthmatic volunteers. This will be achieved by on-site capture and monitoring of the particulate matter (PM) before complete physiochemical analysis of the metallic and organic constituents. Nasal epithelial cells from volunteers will then be exposed to the characterised sample in vitro using an air-liquid interface (ALI) model of the airways to relate toxic endpoints to the compartmentalisation of particulates within the cells. Alexander will investigate the comparative efficiency of green barriers (leaves and bark) at sequestering atmospheric pollution against filters and examine the relationship between outdoor and indoor air-quality.

Project: Classification of microparticles using two-dimensional scattering data and machine learning techniques

Supervisor: Dr Chris Stopford

My name is Skhathisomusa Mthembu from South Africa. I am a 3^rd year PhD student at the University of Hertfordshire, in the Physics, Engineering and Computer Science (PECS) department. I am supervised by Chris Stopford. My research lies in the intersection between environmental monitoring and machine learning. My research project, titled “Classification of microparticles using two-dimensional scattering data and machine learning techniques”, investigates the use of ML to classify aerosol particles using their scattering patterns, like a facial recognition algorithm for particles.

Project: Transport and dispersion of non-exhaust emissions in the wake of a vehicle

Supervisor: Prof Holger Babinsky

Background: The development of cleaner combustions engines and electric vehicles means that non-exhaust emissions are now the dominant form of vehicle pollution in much of the developed world. Particulate matter air pollution can be particularly harmful to health depending on particle size and composition. Understanding the behavior of non-exhaust emissions will be crucial if we wish to see further improvements in air quality, and create sustainable urban environments.

 Project aims:

• To experimentally investigate how non-exhaust (brake and tire dust) particulate matter is suspended and transported in the turbulent air around moving vehicles
• To develop a mathematical model from the experimental results to predict emission dispersion
• Investigate and evaluate the policy interventions available to reduce harmful non-exhaust emissions