Speakers and Sessions

Sessions

DAY 1 Session 1:  Politics of Air – Concepts, Challenges Barriers, Opportunities

Speaker:  World Asthma Foundation
Breathe Well Live Well

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In this session you will learn:

  • the Concepts,  Challenges Barriers, Opportunities of Clean Indoor Air.

The vision of the World Asthma Foundation (WAF) is to improve the quality of life for all Asthmatics. – by advocating for improved understanding of the causes of Asthma, diagnostic tools, methodologies, precision therapies, prevention and one day a cure. WAF supports the Asthma community with educational resources – podcasts, bulletins and in-depth scientific analysis – to foster improved outcomes, doctor-patient relationships and joint decision-making so Asthmatics can take charge of their own health.

Day 1 Session 2: Air Quality and Health

Speaker: Lidia Morawska, Distinguished Professor at the Queensland University

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Abstract

Lidia Morawska (Tarnów, Poland) is a Polish-Australian physicist and distinguished professor at the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, at the Queensland University of Technology and director of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health (ILAQH) at QUT. She is also co-director of the Australia-China Centre for Air Quality Science and Management, an adjunct professor at the Jinan University in China, and a Vice-Chancellor fellow at the Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), University of Surrey in the United Kingdom. Her work focuses on fundamental and applied research in the interdisciplinary field of air quality and its impact on human health, with a specific focus on atmospheric fine, ultrafine and nanoparticles. Since 2003, she expanded her interests to include also particles from human respiration activities and airborne infection transmission.

DAY 1 Session 3:  Fragranced consumer products and effects on asthmatics

Speaker:  Dr Nigel Goodman is a Research Fellow in Air Quality and Health based in the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University (ANU).

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Abstract

Fragrance is used in consumer products around the world. However, it has been associated with adverse effects on indoor and outdoor air quality and human health. Also fragranced consumer products can emit and generate potentially hazardous compounds including formaldehyde and fine particulate matter. This talk will present findings from recent studies on the volatile emissions from fragranced consumer products and implications for asthma. It will also discuss strategies that can help improve air quality, and reduce exposures to emissions from fragranced consumer products and the adverse effects on asthmatics.

Bio:

Dr Nigel Goodman is a Research Fellow in Air Quality and Health based in the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University (ANU). He is also a Vice-Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow at RMIT University. Nigel is an air quality scientist with expertise in reducing human exposure to the sources of indoor and outdoor air pollution. Nigel completed his PhD in Infrastructure Engineering at the University of Melbourne in 2019. His research identified primary indoor air pollutants and understudied locations, such as educational environments. Prior to his PhD studies, Nigel was employed as a scientist at the Commonwealth Industrial and Scientific Research Organisation (CSIRO). He contributed to experimental programs in electrochemistry and corrosion and led projects on water recycling and water purification. Nigel has published journal articles on topics that include indoor air quality, volatile organic compounds emissions, electrochemistry, desalination, water recycling, and pollutant exposures and effects.

Day 2 Session 1: Greener Cleaner Indoor Air

Speaker: Mark Sneller, Phd
Aero Allergen Research
Author, Greener Cleaner Indoor Air

Abstract:

Indoor air pollution is a hidden cause of many health problems, including asthma and cancer. The air we breathe can harm us, not only because of allergens that enter from outside, but also because of the chemicals we saturate our homes with.

DAY 2 Session 2: From DIY Filters to Asthma: All The Basics About Clean Air.

Speaker: Thomas Talhelm
Associate Professor of Behavioral Science
University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Thomas lived in China for five years teaching high school in Guangzhou as a Princeton in Asia fellow, a freelance journalist in Beijing, and a Fulbright scholar and a NSF Graduate Research Fellow. While living in Beijing, Thomas founded Smart Air, a social enterprise that ships low-cost air purifiers to help people breathe clean air without shelling out thousands of dollars for expensive purifiers.

In this session you will learn:

  • Understand the basics of how air purifiers and filters work
  • “Immunize” yourself against the tricks that purifier companies use to mislead people into paying more for clean air
  • Get a practical approach to reducing exposure to chemicals that come from inside the home