A Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist is studying how heating, ventilation and air conditioning, HVAC, system configurations and building designs could mitigate the spread of microorganisms, including viruses, that are detrimental to human health.
A Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist is studying how heating, ventilation and air conditioning, HVAC, system configurations and building designs could mitigate the spread of microorganisms, including viruses, that are detrimental to human health.
Dr. Maria King, director of the Center for Agricultural Air Quality Engineering and Science in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, recently received a $400,000, two-year National Institutes of Health grant to study the aerial paths of pathogens in health care facilities. The study should shed light on a largely invisible aspect of building design that has a large impact on human health.
King said the study bridges scientific disciplines including biology, virology, computational modeling and engineering to applied research in an exciting and innovative way. The study also comes after the world has spent several years dealing with outbreaks of COVID-19, which primarily spreads through the air.
Read more at: Texas A&M University
Maria King, Ph.D., director of the Texas A&M Center for Agricultural Air Quality Engineering and Science, watches on as simulated virus aerosol passes through a laser sheet that uses a high-speed camera to image and track the movement of the particles. (Photo Credit: Michael Miller Texas A&M AgriLife)
