Bioresilience Fund

Assess how specific models of FFR and EHMR filters degrade under routine workplace conditions and compare those findings with laboratory-controlled samples to identify factors that affect filtration performance over time.

Assess how specific models of FFR filters degrade under different simulated conditions in controlled laboratory environments.

Assesses the real-world efficacy of glycol vapor as an adjunctive air and surface disinfection approach in healthcare and residential care settings. Using a commercially available TEG-based product, the research examines whether glycol vapors can reduce airborne and surface contamination in patient rooms across hospitals, nursing homes, and residential living facilities with varying ventilation rates, targeting healthcare-associated pathogens including SARS-CoV-2 and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The study also seeks to understand the use of glycol vapors during respiratory virus preparedness training, measuring reductions in air, surface, and personnel contamination using a viral surrogate, as well as in medical procedure rooms to evaluate reductions in bacterial contamination under clinical conditions.

Examines the human safety of exposure to air disinfection-relevant concentrations of triethylene glycol vapor, with a specific focus on individuals with asthma. The research builds on existing animal inhalation data to undertake an acute human exposure study using triethylene glycol. Metrics to assess reactions to glycol vapors will include changes in lung function, airway hyperresponsiveness, airway inflammation, oxidative stress, patient-reported outcomes, and other clinical metrics.

Evaluates how exposure to three glycol vapors (propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, and triethylene glycol), in combination with ASHRAE test dust or polydisperse polystyrene latex (PSL) aerosols, affects six types of air filter media under varying relative humidity conditions, glycol vapor saturation concentrations, and exposure durations. Outcomes include assessing changes in filtration performance, electrostatic charge, airflow resistance, and alterations in fiber morphology to inform filter performance, replacement, and service life following exposure to glycol vapors.

Evaluates optimal delivery method of three glycol vapors (propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, and triethylene glycol) using commercially available, cost-effective emergency deployment technologies. The project investigates the potential of glycol vapors to facilitate the formation of unwanted secondary products or particulate matter that degrade air quality within a test office environment and assesses inactivation efficacy against three bacterial and viral cultures (Mycobacterium parafortuitum, Bordetella pertussis, and a vaccine strain of influenza) aerosolized in artificial saliva under controlled laboratory conditions.

Assesses the efficacy of three glycol vapors (propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, and triethylene glycol) against inactivation of two pathogen surrogates (Bacillus subtilis and MS2 bacteriophage) under laboratory controlled conditions using a purpose built-experimental chamber to control for microbiological and environmental variation. Variables to be evaluated include four different dispersion methods, five indoor relative humidity setpoints, and three different concentrations (sub-saturation, near-saturation, and super-saturation).

Evaluates the inactivation mechanisms of two glycol vapors (propylene glycol and dipropylene glycol) against two clinically relevant pathogens (influenza virus and Group A Streptococcus), aerosolized in human saliva and microbial growth media, using single-particle laboratory techniques.

Evaluates the inactivation mechanisms of three glycol vapors (propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, and triethylene glycol) against three pathogen surrogates (MS2 bacteriophage, phi6 bacteriophage, and Escherichia coli bacteria) under controlled laboratory conditions using spectroscopic methods.

Testing how air cleaning technologies can reduce indoor air pollution created when far-UVC light interacts with common indoor compounds.

Developing an open-source mathematical model that simulates how far-UVC light installations in buildings could reduce the spread of infectious diseases through populations.

Testing human eye tolerance to far-UVC light exposure and establishing safe irradiation limits for practical applications.

Developing a modeling system that shows how far-UVC light disinfects air and affects indoor air chemistry in spaces where people are present.

Developing a modeling system that evaluates how far-UVC light can safely inactivate airborne viruses like influenza in indoor environments.

Researching the short-term eye effects of far-UVC light exposure through quantitative pain assessment and advanced imaging of corneal structures in human volunteers.

Replicating and validating research on the efficacy of far-UVC technology for airborne pathogen inactivation.

Performing field research on secondary chemical reactions produced by far-UVC technology in real-world indoor environments.