Leadership and Management Team
Professor Frank Kelly FRCP
Unit Director
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Professor Frank Kelly holds the inaugural Humphrey Battcock Chair in Community Health and Policy, in the Environmental Research Group, within the School of Public Health in a new global centre of air pollution research. Frank is Director of the Environmental Research Group, the National Institute for Health and Care Research Unit (NIHR) in Environmental Exposures and Health, and is Deputy Director of the MRC Centre for Environment and Health.
EEH Themes:
Theme III Project 1: Understanding key molecular events following pollutant exposures
Theme IV Project 2: Microplastics and health
Theme IV Project 5: Understanding public exposures to toxicants from waste fires
Publications:
Professor Tim Gant
PHE Deputy Lead
UK Health Security Agency
Professor Tim Gant is Head of the Toxicology Department at the Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, UK Health Security Agency, Visiting Professor in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Surrey, Honorary Senior Research Fellow of the Imperial/KCL MRC/UK Health Security Agency for Environment and Health, and Honorary Reader in Genetics at the University of Leicester. He received his undergraduate (Pharmacology and Toxicology joint hons) from the University of London, School of Pharmacy and PhD in Pharmacology also from the School of Pharmacy. Postdoc and visiting staff positions followed graduation at PhD at the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
He returned to the UK as a Career Development Fellow with the Medical Research Council Toxicology Unit and achieved tenure in 2002. He led the Systems Toxicology Group at the MRC Toxicology Unit until 2011 when he moved to his present position at CRCE. He has been involved with the Confederation of European Chemical industry Council (CEFIC) since 2003 and chaired the External Scientific Advisory Panel for four years.
He is now involved with the European Centre for Ecotoxicology and toxicology of Chemicals (ECETOC) as an advisor on their program on the Foetal Origins of Adult Disease and more generally to the scientific program. Tim has been involved with the British Toxicology Society since being a student and currently chairs the Scientific Sub Committee. His scientific interests centre on mechanisms of toxicity, genomics and bioinformatics and related to both the effect of genetic and epigenetic variation in determining sensitivity to environmental hazards.
He has published consistently over the period of his career (search pubmed – Gant TW [author]) and served as reviewer for many papers and grants and on review committees for CRUK.
EEH Themes:
Theme III Project 3: The role of AhR in Asthma
Theme IV Project 2: Microplastics and health
Theme IV Project 3: Drugs of misuse
Theme IV Project 5: Understanding public exposures to toxicants from waste fires
Publications:
Ms Angela Lewis
Unit Manager
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Angela is the Unit Manager for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) HPRU Environmental Exposures and Health, and Associate Director of the Environmental Research Group at Imperial College London.
UNIT DIRECTOR
UNIT DEPUTY DIRECTOR
UNIT MANAGER
Theme 1 Co-Leads
Professor Benjamin Barratt
Theme I Co-Lead
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Professor Ben Barratt is a Reader in Environmental Exposures & Public Health and Deputy Director of the Environmental Research Group, and Theme I Co-Lead for the HPRU in Environmental Exposures and Health.
EEH Themes:
Theme I Project 6: Indoor Air Pollution
Theme II Project 3: Indoor exposures and health
Theme II Project 4: Exposures in transport microenvironments and their impact on health
Publications:
Dr Emma Marczylo
Theme I Co-Lead
UK Health Security Agency
Dr Emma Marczylo is a Principal Toxicologist within the Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards Directorate at the UK Health Security Agency with over 20 years’ postdoctoral experience in toxicological research disciplines, including cellular and molecular biology, epigenetics, toxicogenomics, in vitro and in vivo model systems and the microbiome. Her current research focuses on the potential toxicities of e-cigarettes and on characterising fungal bioaerosol exposures and their associated public health outcomes. As part of her role at RCE, Emma is also involved in academic teaching, expert workshops, regulatory and policy meetings, and providing advice to government departments and agencies. Emma co-leads Theme I: Assessment of Population Exposures within the Environmental Exposures and Health HPRU.
EEH Themes:
Theme I Project 5: Bioaerosol quantitation and effects
Theme II Project 4: Exposures in transport microenvironments and their impact on health
Theme IV Project 2: Microplastics and Health
Publications:
Theme 2 Co-Leads
Dr Helen Crabbe
Theme II Co-Lead
UK Health Security Agency
Helen Crabbe is a Senior Epidemiology Scientist in the Environmental Epidemiology Group at the UK Health Security Agency’s Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards. She conducts epidemiological analysis of environmental exposures and effects on health including water contaminants, air pollution, land contamination, climate change and natural hazards. She develops and evaluates surveillance for environmental public health, including running the lead exposure in children surveillance system for England. She is a supervisor for the UK Field Epidemiology Training Programme and Honorary senior lecturer, fellow and researcher at several UK universities. She has a background in environmental health, environmental science and management, pollution control, GIS, spatial epidemiology, respiratory health, non-communicable diseases, EIA, and HIA.
EEH Themes:
Theme II Project 3: Indoor exposures and health
Theme II Project 5: Disentangling effects of NO2 and PM2.5 in time-series analysis
Publications:
Dr Ian Mudway
Theme II Co-Lead
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
EEH Themes:
Theme I Project 3: Acute CO exposure
Theme II Project 2: Air pollution/impacts on the brain across the life course
Theme II Project 4: Exposures in transport microenvironments and their impact on health
Theme III Project 2: Health effects of non-combustion particles
Theme III Project 3: The role of the AhR in Asthma
Publications:
Theme 3 Co-Leads
Professor Catherine Hawrylowicz
Theme III Co-Lead
King’s College London
EEH Themes:
Theme III Project 3: The role of AhR in Asthma
Publications:
Dr Martin Leonard
Theme III Co-Lead
UK Health Security Agency
Dr Martin Leonard obtained his PhD in Pharmacology in 2000 from University College Dublin, Ireland. He has over 15 years’ experience as a toxicologist focussed to developing and improving on models and methods for assessment of toxicological hazard, including in vivo approaches, high content omics technology and iPSC in vitro models of the airway. He is a European registered toxicologist and currently holds a position as principal toxicologist at UK Health Security Agency directing research into the mechanisms of chemical, particulate and allergen hazard associated with asthma and allergic airway disease. Martin has published extensively in the fields of toxicology, cell biology and Immunology.
EEH Themes:
Theme 3 Project 3: The role of the AhR in Asthma
Publications:
Theme 4 Co-Leads
Dr David Green
Theme IV Co-Lead
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Dr David Green is a Senior Research Fellow in the Environmental Research Group where he leads the Aerosol Science Team. Research interests focus on the measurement of particles and gases, and their use in source apportionment and health studies, to improve our understanding in both the urban and global environment.
EEH Themes:
Theme II Project 4: Exposures in transport microenvironments and their impact on health
Publications:
Dr Mathew Van de Pette
Theme IV Co-Lead
Principal Toxicologist, UK Health Security Agency
Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology (DART) focus, using in vitro models of development and the germline to assess epigenetic changes across one and two generations. Collaborations with industry and academia to further develop models and assess novel non-genotoxic agents.
EEH Themes:
Investigators
Dr Leon Barron
Investigator
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, Imperial College London
Dr Leon Barron moved to King’s College London as a Lecturer (in 2009) and then Senior Lecturer (in 2015) in Forensic Science, where he led the Environmental & Forensic Chemistry group for 11 years. In 2020, he moved to Imperial College London as a Senior Lecturer in Analytical & Environmental Sciences. He has published >75 peer-reviewed articles in the fields of analytical chemistry, environmental pollution, ecotoxicology and forensic science.
EE&H Projects:
Theme I Project 1: Human Biomonitoring
Dr Sean Beevers
Investigator
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Dr Sean Beevers leads the Environmental Research Group’s Air Pollution Modelling team, and is a member of the MRC Centre for Environment and Health.
EEH Themes:
Theme II Project 1: Air pollution and adverse birth outcomes
Theme II Project 2: Air pollution/impacts on the brain across the life course
Theme IV Project 6: Air Pollution and Infertility
Publications:
Dr Adam Boies
Investigator
MRC Toxicology Unit, Cambridge
Dr. Adam Boies is Reader of Nanomaterials and Aerosol Engineering and is Head of the Energy Group at the Cambridge University Engineering Department. His research focuses on characterizing the evolution, dynamics and impacts of gas-phase nanoparticles with an emphasis on energy applications, aerosol instrumentation and emissions. He is director of the Advanced Carbon Application and Manufacturing network and is Partnership Director of the Aerosol Doctoral Training Centre. He is a Fellow of Trinity College and has over 70 publications and 11 patents. He has been granted >£40m worth of total project funding from EPSRC, IUK, EU Horizon2020 and NERC. His group has produced three spin-outs, where he serves as Research Director for Catalytic Instruments, advisor to Atmose Ltd and as a co-founder of Echion Technologies.
EEH Themes:
Theme III Project 2: Health effects on non-combustion particles
Publications:
Dr Alison Buckley
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
EEH Themes:
Theme III Project 6: Use of improved in vitro systems to evaluate mechanisms of toxicity
Publications:
Shiv Chauhan
Research Associate
UK Health Security Agency
Shiv Chauhan is a Higher Toxicologist in the General Toxicology and Biomonitoring Programme. This programme sits in the Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards Directorate at the UK Health Security Agency. Shiv has graduated from the University of Central Lancashire with a Bachelors in Medical Sciences.
EEH Themes:
Dr Emily Cheek
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
Emily is an Environmental Public Health Scientist in the Environmental Hazards & Emergencies department at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). She is particularly interested in chemical hazards and their impact on public health and also has a background in air quality.
Emily has a particular interest in lead exposure including the production of public health intervention concentrations for blood lead levels in children and pregnant women. She is also actively involved in outreach and engagement work, representing the UKHSA on the Public, Community, Involvement, Engagement and Participation committee as well as at events and more broadly working with other agencies including the Environment Agency.
Dr Rebecca Close
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
Rebecca Close is a Senior Epidemiology Scientist in the Environmental Epidemiology Group at the UK Health Security Agency’s Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards Directorate.
She works on the epidemiological analysis of environmental exposures and effects on health. She leads on the epidemiology of indoor air pollution for the team, helped to develop the team’s Environmental Public Health Surveillance System, is involved in the response and preparedness to environmental incidents, as well as teaching and many other research projects.
She is a supervisor for the UK Field Epidemiology Training Programme.
EEH Themes:
Dr Bethan Davies
Investigator
School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Dr Bethan Davies is a Senior Clinical Lecturer in the School of Public Health and an Honorary Consultant in Public Health Medicine at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Bethan is the Deputy Director of the UK Small Area Statistics Unit (SAHSU). She was previously the Deputy Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Imperial BRC Patient Experience Research Centre (PERC). Bethan’s research interest is in the use of routine healthcare data to build the evidence base for public health policy.
EEH Themes:
Publications:
Alec Dobney
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
Alec Dobney has over 25 years’ experience in environmental science and risk assessment, with experience in chemical analyses, environmental sampling and monitoring, environmental public health and local air quality management. His background career includes working as a chemistry technologist within the aerospace industry and as an environmental health manager within local government.
Alec currently works in UKHSA’s Radiation Chemical and Environmental Hazards (RCE) Environmental Hazards and Emergency department as a regional head for Midlands and East regions as part of a multi-disciplinary department with responsibility for supporting UKHSA environmental public health strategy. Alec has a lead role in the EHE department for Environmental Hazards in supporting the Department’s deliver its core environmental health protection function.
EEH Themes:
Dr Sani Dimitroulopoulou
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
Dr Sani Dimitroulopoulou is a Principal Environmental Public Health Scientist on Indoor Environments at the UK Health Security Agency. She is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the UCL Bartlett School. Her interests include exposure assessment to air pollution, based on modelling and monitoring of indoor and outdoor air pollution and ventilation as well as health impact assessments. She has led and participated in more than 40 research and consulting projects. She has published about 90 peer-reviewed papers in international scientific journals and conferences and more than 45 technical research and consulting reports on the above research areas. She works closely with colleagues from Government Departments (e.g. DfE, MHCLG, Defra, BEIS) and Organisations (e.g. WHO, NICE, CIBSE), and Royal Colleges (RCP/RCPCH) to provide expert advice on indoor air quality and health.
EEH Themes:
Theme I Project 3: Acute CO exposure
Theme I Project 6: Indoor Air pollution
Publications:
Professor Paul Elliott
Investigator
School of Public Health, Imperial College London
EEH Themes:
Theme III Project 1: Understanding key molecular events following pollutant exposures
theme IV Project 6: Air pollution and infertility
Publications:
Dr Atallah Elzein
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
Dr Atallah Elzein carried out his PhD in chemistry and environmental sciences in CNRS/Orléans – France, where I studied the interaction of gas pollutants on the surface of mineral oxides. Following my PhD, I took up a postdoctoral position at ULCO University in France where I expanded my experience in atmospheric science and air pollution and investigated the VOCs reaction kinetics and product formation using simulation chamber. I moved to York in the UK in 2016 and took up a postdoctoral position in WACL at the University of York where I focused on studying the chemical composition of PM2.5 in Beijing and Delhi and health risk assessment from carcinogenic compounds. Currently working at the UK Health Security Agency in the department of toxicology in Chilton-Harwell Campus where I’m involved in different projects within the HPRU focusing on health protection from toxicants in indoor and outdoor air.
EEH Themes:
Theme I Project 1: Human Biomonitoring
Theme I Project 3: Acute CO exposure
Theme III Project 4: E-cigerettes toxicity and health effects from second-hand exposures
Theme IV Project 5: Understanding exposures to toxicants from waste fires
Publications:
Dr Dimitris Evangelopoulos
Investigator
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
EEH Themes:
Theme II Project 5: Disentangling effects of NO2 and PM2.5 in time-series analysis
Publications:
Dr Karen Exley
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
Her research focuses on environmental public health with specific interests in improving exposure and risk assessment of indoor and outdoor air pollution and environmental chemicals. It also includes evaluating the effectiveness of interventions for both indoor and outdoor air quality and translating this knowledge into actionable public health tools and guidance for national and local government and other stakeholders.
She is a member of the scientific secretariat for the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants and was an expert committee member for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Excellence’s Quality Standard on air pollution. She is a Member of the UK Research & Innovation Strategic Priorities Fund’s Clean Air Steering Committee and a Member of the National Institute of Health Research’s Public Health Research Funding Committee.
EEH Themes:
Theme 2 Project 1: Air pollution and adverse birth outcomes
Theme 2 Project 5: Disentangling effects of NO2 and PM2.5 in time-series analysis
Publications:
Tom Fraser
Research Associate
UK Health Security Agency
Tom Fraser MA (Hons) provides wide ranging operational and business support to the Toxicology Department of UKHSA, including through his involvement in supporting the HPRU in Environmental Exposures and Health. He studied International Politics at Aberystwyth University before working in an NHS Covid Command and Central Operations team during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Dr David Green
Theme IV Co-Lead
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Dr David Green is a Senior Research Fellow in the Environmental Research Group where he leads the Aerosol Science Team. Research interests focus on the measurement of particles and gases, and their use in source apportionment and health studies, to improve our understanding in both the urban and global environment.
EEH Themes:
Theme II Project 4: Exposures in transport microenvironments and their impact on health
Publications:
Dr Valentina Guercio
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
Dr Valentina Guercio works at the UK Health Security Agency as a senior environmental scientist. After obtaining her PhD she worked for 6 years as a research fellow at the University of Milan and Mario Negri Institute in Milano. Her research interests are in the epidemiology of cancer and other chronic diseases and the identification of the major risk factors, including air pollution and environmental chemicals. This has been done by carrying out observational studies and systematic reviews and meta-analyses. She was also involved in national and international projects that aimed to combine the epidemiological and toxicological evidence in order to establish a causal relationship between exposures and outcomes.
EEH Themes:
Theme 2 Project 1: Air pollution and adverse birth outcomes
Theme 2 Project 2: Air Pollution/impacts on the brain across the life course
Theme IV Project 6: Air pollution and infertility
Publications:
Fei Gao
Research Trainee
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Fei Gao is a PhD student in air pollution modelling in the Environmental Research Group. After obtaining her master’s degree in environmental engineering from Tsinghua University, she started her PhD in October 2022 at Imperial College London.
Her research focuses on how Net Zero impacts future energy use and indoor air quality in UK homes. The aims of this project, conducted in close partnership with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), are: i) to investigate home characteristics and energy use (gas, oil, biomass) in the UK; ii) to enhance and evaluate our existing indoor air quality models for use in the UK; iii) to utilize the models in ii) to assess the impact/benefits on indoor air quality and human exposure from changes to indoor sources of cooking and heating, associated with UK policy towards Net Zero. The project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Environmental Exposures and Health.
Dr Chang Guo
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
Dr. Guo serves as a Senior Scientist in the Experimental Toxicology Programme, part of the Toxicology Department at the UK Health Security Agency. With over fifteen years of experience in nanotoxicology, she has been actively engaged in researching the impact of air pollution on public health, with a specific focus on understanding cellular and molecular mechanisms. Her investigations go beyond the respiratory system, extending to explore neurological effects associated with inhaled particulate matter, including through accessing advanced facilities at STFC. Before joining the UK Health Security Agency, Dr. Guo earned her PhD in Pharmacology from Cambridge University and subsequently worked in the field of nanotechnology, where she contributed to the development of engineered nanomaterials for drug delivery systems.
EEH Themes:
Dr Yiqun Han
Investigator
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
EEH Themes:
Theme III Project 1: Understanding key molecular events following pollutant exposure
Publications:
Professor Klea Katsouyanni
Investigator
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Her research focuses on the health effects of environmental stressors, mainly outdoor air pollution. She has been the Coordinator of the EU network APHEA which provided European wide results on the short-term effects of air pollution and a Partner in several international projects investigating effects of exposure to air pollution and other environmental stressors, as well as their interactions, gene-environment interactions, air pollution effects in sensitive sub-populations, health impact assessment (e.g. PHEWE, AIRGENE, ESCAPE, ELAPSE, EuroHEAT, STEAM, EXHAUSTION, EXPANSE). Currently she is involved in the investigation of long-term effects of air pollution and the urban environment, the effects of ozone on children’s respiratory health, the effects of source-specific particles on health (such as forest fires and desert dust), the short-term effects of PM2.5 and ultrafine particles in Europe and the effects of extremely high temperatures on mortality.
She has been or is a member of several advisory committees (E.C., W.H.O. etc) in environmental health topics. For example, she participated in the 8-member Steering Committee of the REVIHAP and HRAPIE projects (2013) and was a member of the Committee on the revision of the WHO Air Quality Guidelines 2006. She was chair person of the Technical Working Group on Research Needs in the Framework of the European Environment and Health Strategy 2003-04. Member of the Oversight Committee of the NMMAPS project, funded by the US Health Effects Institute. Reviewer of E.C. applications for funding in Biomed and Environment Programmes under FP4, FP5, FP6 and FP7. Member of the ERC Panel for Starting and Consolidator Grants 2010, 2013, 2015 and 2017. She has more than 200 publications in peer reviewed journals and a h-index of 85.
In 2006 she became the recipient of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) John Goldsmith award for sustained and outstanding contributions to the knowledge and practice of Environmental Epidemiology.
EEH Themes:
Theme II Project 1: Air pollution and adverse birth outcomes
Theme II Project 2: Air pollution/impacts on the brain across the life course
Theme II Project 5: Disentangling effects of NO2 and PM2.5 in time-series analysis
Publications:
Muhammad Saleem Khan
Investigator
Dr. Khan is an epidemiologist and biostatistician with a PhD in Public Health from Imperial College London, where his doctoral research explored the impact of environmental factors on cystic fibrosis disease severity using spatio-temporal analysis. He also holds an MPH from Imperial College London and an MSc in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Aga Khan University, Pakistan.
Currently, Dr. Khan’s research focuses on the long-term effects of air pollution on lung function in individuals with cystic fibrosis, using data from the UK CF Registry. Additionally, he investigates trends in diabetes management outcomes, including HbA1c levels, hospital admissions for diabetic ketoacidosis, and severe hypoglycemia in adults with type 1 diabetes, using data from the National Diabetes Audit NHS England (2007/08 – 2022/23).
EEH Themes:
Dr Ayokulehin (Ayo) KOSOKO
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
I am a Cellular and Molecular Pharmacologist by training [understanding the mechanism(s) involved in the onset, progression, and possible management strategies of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease] with industrial experience in primary and mammalian cell culture as well as iPSCs in-vitro models of the kidneys, airway, neuronal and microglia cells; downstream assays, viral (adeno-associated virus, lentivirus) and lipid nanoparticle (LNPs) gene delivery strategies.
I am a member of the Royal Society of Biology and currently holds a position as a Higher Research Scientist within the Experimental Toxicology Group at the UK Health Security Agency.
My research will involve assay development/validation/optimization and providing mechanistic insights into chemical, particulate and allergen hazard associated asthma exacerbation and allergic airway disease.
EEH Themes:
Dr Charlotte Landeg-Cox
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
Charlotte Landeg-Cox is an Environmental Public Health Scientist at the UK Health Security Agency’s Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards. Charlotte has a BA (Hons) from Liverpool John Moors University and an MSc in Environmental Health from UWE Bristol. Charlotte currently works in the Air Quality and Public Health team within the Environmental Hazards and Emergency department and has experience of acute and chronic incident response, research, evidence translation and communicating public health risk assessments. Charlotte is also a STEM Ambassador and participates in outreach events and activities.
EEH Themes:
Theme I Project 6:Indorr Air Pollution
Publications:
Dr Adam Laycock
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
Adam Laycock is a Senior Scientist in the Nanoparticle Inhalation Research Group within the Toxicology Department at the UK Health Security Agency. He is an analytical chemist with expertise in metal analysis and particle detection and characterisation in a range of consumer product, environmental, and biological matrices.
EEH Themes:
Theme I Project 2: Biomarkers in smoking and vaping populations
Publications:
Shawn Lee
Investigator
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
I am a PhD student based in the Environmental Research Group. My research focuses on the impact of air pollution exposure during pregnancy on birth outcomes. The project is under the supervision of Dr Heather Walton, Dr Rachel Smith and Dr Karen Exley.
I read my undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science at St. George’s, University of London. I joined Imperial College London in 2018 and completed the Master of Public Health (Global Health) programme. Afterwards, I worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Participatory Approaches in Public Health specialisation of Imperial’s Global Master of Public Health Programme.
I am currently a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Health Impact Assessment and Environmental Epidemiology modules of Imperial’s Master of Public Health Programme.
I am a member of SSCP DTP Cohort 8, with my project being part of Imperial’s Transition to Zero Pollution Initiative.
EEH Themes:
Dr Marion MacFarlane
Investigator
University of Cambridge
Marion MacFarlane is Deputy Director of the MRC Toxicology Unit and Programme lead for the Molecular mechanisms of cell death Programme and the cross-Unit Fibre Toxicity Programme
EEH Themes:
Theme IV Project 2:Microplastics and health
Publications:
Justie Mak
Investigator
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Justie Mak is a final year PhD student. She is part of the Aerosol Science team in the Environmental Research Group and the Lungs at Work team at the National Heart and Lung Institute.
PhD: The risk of occupational exposure to subway particulate matter on cardiorespiratory health in London Underground workers.
EEH Themes:
Professor Ann McNeill
Investigator
King’s College London
Ann McNeill is Professor of Tobacco Addiction in the National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London. She was also the inaugural Vice Dean (Culture, Diversity & Inclusion) for the IoPPN. Ann’s research focuses on reducing the population level impact of smoking through the application of tobacco control policies and interventions, including harm reduction strategies. Ann has led six evidence updates on e-cigarettes commissioned by UK government which involve original research and reviews of the evidence. She has a particular focus on disadvantage and smoking, including understanding and reducing the much higher levels of smoking observed in those with mental health problems. Nationally, she co-chairs a Mental Health and Smoking Partnership, a coalition of stakeholders interested in reducing smoking, led by the charity Action on Smoking and Health. She is also Co-Director of a newly funded NIHR Policy Research Unit in Addictions. Ann has published more than 450 peer-reviewed academic papers. She has an established international reputation in tobacco addiction, receiving a World Health Organisation World No Tobacco Day award for contributions to tobacco control in 1998 and in 2020, the Doll-Wynder Award by the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.
Theme I Project 2: Biomarkers in smoking and vaping populations
Theme III Project 4: E-cigarettes toxicity and health effects from second-hand exposures
Publications:
Dr Tim Marczylo
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
Dr Tim Marczylo Ph.D., B.Sc. is a principal toxicologist and leads a small team within the Toxicology Department at the Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, UK Health Security Agency. His main research focus is on the exposure of the public to potentially damaging environmental toxicants and their health consequences. Recently, research has focussed on biomarkers of electronic cigarette exposure and on evaluating mass casualty decontamination strategies.
EEH Themes:
Theme I Project 1: Human Biomonitoring
Theme I Project 2: Biomarkers in smoking and vaping populations
Theme I Project 3: Acute CO exposure
Theme I Project 6: indoor Air pollution
Theme III Project 4: E-cigarettes toxicity and health effects from second-hand exposures
Theme IV Project 2: Microplastics and health
Theme IV Project 3: Drugs of misuse
Theme IV Project 5: Understanding public exposures to toxicants from waste fires
Publications:
Dr Christina Mitsakou
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
Christina has participated into several research projects whilst working in JRC Ispra (1999-2000), NCSR Demokritos (2001-2007), University of Athens (2007-2011), King’s College London (2011-2014), University of Cambridge (2015). Since November 2015, she has been working at the UK Health Security Agency on the health effects associated with exposure to air pollution.
EEH Themes:
Theme 1 Project 6: Indoor Air Pollution
Publications:
David O’Loughlin
Research Trainee
University of Cambridge
David O’Loughlin is a PhD student in the MacFarlane group at the MRC Toxicology Unit, University of Cambridge. His research will explore the potential health effects of non-exhaust (brake and tyre) wear particles and is co-supervised with the Department of Engineering and is supported by the Doctoral Training programme of the National Institute for Health Research-funded Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Environmental Exposures and Health.
David holds a BSc in Pharmaceutical Chemistry (Maynooth University) and an MSc in Toxicology (University College Dublin) and sits on the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Toxicology Group Committee.
EEH Themes:
Theme III Project 2: Health Effects of non-combustion particles
Professor Kiran Patil
Brandon Parkes
Research Associate
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Brandon is a postdoctoral research associate in the Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU) at Imperial College London.
EEH Themes:
Dr Fred Piel
Investigator
School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Dr Fred Piel’s research uses rigorous spatial quantitative methods to study a range of epidemiological questions related to non-communicable disease, global health and low- and middle-income countries. He is leading on disease specific projects looking at environment-health associations, including on cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease, as well as on methodological projects such as a comparison of space-time methods for non-communicable disease surveillance; the development of a software for disease mapping and risk analysis, the Rapid Inquiry Facility 4.0; and a modelling of spatial uncertainty at small-area level with Emory and Harvard collaborators, funded by NIH. He is part of the UK Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU) and the MRC Centre for Environment & Health. Dr Piel is also the Director of the Joint Training Programme for the MRC Centre for Environment & Health, the National Institute for Health and Care Research NIHR HPRU in Environmental Exposures & Health, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research NIHR HPRU in Chemical & Radiation Threats & Hazards. I am part of the Postgraduate Research Studies Committee of the School of Public Health.
EEH Themes:
Theme I Project 5: Bioaerosol quantitation and effects
Theme II Project 3: Indoor exposures and health
Theme IV Project 1: Human health impacts from exposures to perfluorinated chemicals
Publications:
Phillip Punter
Research Trainee
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Phillip Punter is a Research Postgraduate in Aerosol Science and the Modelling Group in the Environmental Research Group. His research aims to assess exposure to metallic aerosols in transport microenvironments.
Emma Quartermain
Research Associate
UK Health Security Agency
Emma Quartermain is a higher toxicologist at the UK Health Security Agency working within the International Regulation Toxicology group specifically on in vitro test method validation. She graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2022 where she attended an Bachelors in Biochemistry and a Masters in Toxicology.
EEH Themes:
Dr Debbie Robson
Research Associate
King’s College London
Dr Debbie Robson, RMN, PhD, Senior Research Fellow, National Addiction Centre, Addictions Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London. Debbie works in the Nicotine Research Group, in the National Addiction Centre, King’s College London. Her work focuses on the development and evaluation of tobacco dependence treatment pathways, staff training pathways, and smokefree policies. Debbie is part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) South London Applied Research Care (ARC) where she leads a programme of research about tobacco dependence and treatment across King’s Health Partners. She is also a member of National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) King’s Health Protection Unit, where she works with PHE colleagues on a programme of research about the effect of exposure to e-cigarettes in high-risk groups. She is a co-author of UK Health Security Agency commissioned annual evidence reviews of e-cigarettes and is a Trustee of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).
EEH Themes:
Theme I Project 2: Biomarkers in smoking and vaping populations
Publications:
Dr Liza Selley
Investigator
MRC Toxicology Unit, Cambridge
Liza began her research in 2013, whilst completing her PhD at Imperial College, London. These studies included a year of training with the Environmental Research Group as part of an In Vitro Toxicology society funded mini fellowship. Currently her projects focus on aviation emissions, brake wear particles and wood smoke, exploring how these pollutants affect cellular functions and susceptibility to infection.
Outside of the laboratory, Liza is a keen member of our Public Engagement team. She has participated in educational events and appeared as a guest expert for national TV, radio, podcasts and Shambala festival.
EEH Themes:
Theme 3 Project 1: Understanding key molecular events following pollutant exposure
Theme 3 Project 2: Health Effects of non-combustion particles
Publications:
Shivam Sharma
Research Associate
UK Health Security Agency
Shivam Sharma is a Higher Toxicologist in the General Toxicology and Biomonitoring Group within the Toxicology Department at the Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards Directorate, UK Health Security Agency. Shivam has an MSc in Toxicology from University of Birmingham.
EEH Themes:
Dr Rachel B Smith
Investigator
Imperial College London
Rachel is a postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Imperial College London.
EEH Themes:
Theme II Project 1: Air pollution and adverse birth outcomes
Theme IV Project 6: Air pollution and infertility
Publications:
Dr Rachel Smith
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
Dr Rachel Smith had led the multidisciplinary Nanoparticle Inhalation Research Group at the UK Health Security Agency’s Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards for the past decade. Key research interests are lung deposition, clearance, translocation and toxicity of inhaled nanoparticles and other air pollution components, including their impact on pre-existing health conditions. She provides advice to UK Government on Nano safety and is a member of the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials.
EEH Themes:
Theme III Project 3: The role of AhR in Asthma
Theme IV Project 2: Microplastics and health
Publications:
Professor Mirielle Toledano
Investigator
School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Professor Mirielle Toledano is an investigator on Theme II and Theme IV projects.
EEH Themes:
Theme II Project 2: Air pollution/impacts on the brain across the life course
theme IV Project 6: Air Pollution and Infertility
Publications:
Eve Taylor
Investigator
Eve Taylor is a Research Associate with the Nicotine Research Group at King’s College London, having recently completed a PhD with the HPRU. Her work with the HPRU investigates toxicant exposure among people who vape and or smoke, with a particular focus on people with mental health conditions.
EEH Themes:
Dr Heather Walton
Investigator
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
EEH Themes:
Theme II Project 1: Air Pollution and adverse birth outcomes
Theme II Project 5: Disentangling effects of NO2 and PM2.5 in time-series analysis
Publications:
Sarah Williams
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
Sarah Williams is a medical doctor training in public health in London. She is currently on the UK Field Epidemiology Training Programme, based with the Environmental Epidemiology Team and Thames Valley Health Protection Team at UKHSA. She is working primarily on the epidemiological analysis of indoor exposure to carbon monoxide.
EEH Themes:
Professor Anne Willis
Investigator
University of Cambridge
EEH Themes:
Theme III Project 1: Understanding key molecular events following pollutant exposure
Publications:
Mr Dylan Wood
Investigator
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
EEH Themes:
Theme II Project 2: Air Pollution/impacts on the brain across the life course
Publications:
Dr Matthew Wright
Investigator
UK Health Security Agency
Dr Matthew Wright is a Senior Aerosol Scientist within the Nanoparticle Inhalation Research Group, Toxicology Department, UK Health Security Agency. His main area of research involves studies on the aerosol characteristics, composition, lung deposition and toxicological effects associated with exposure to a range of agents including aerosolised carbon nanotubes, e-cigarette aerosol, nanoparticle-enabled consumer products and 3D printing emissions. He is partly responsible for the design, maintenance, operation and data analysis associated with aerosol generation, measurement instrumentation, and in vitro and in vivo exposure systems.Matthew previously worked as Senior Research Associate in the Atmospheric Chemistry Research Group, University of Bristol, having obtained Ph.D. (2011) and M.Sci. (2004) degrees in Physics, also at Bristol, where research focused on a range of topics including submicron and ultrafine aerosol size distributions in urban, rural, indoor and transport environments, development of gas and aerosol tracer technologies to study dispersion (including infiltration into buildings) and chemical reactivity in the urban atmosphere. Whilst at Bristol he was also involved in studies involving air pollution measurements in a SE Asian megacity (Bangkok, Thailand), ambient aerosol electric charge state and the potential influence on lung deposition in human volunteers, and the relationship between air ions, aerosols and atmospheric electricity in urban and other environments.
Matthew has been involved with a number of outreach activities to share the group’s research with the public, including New Scientist Live and Oxford Ideas Festival, and is active within the UK Health Security Agency on the Environmental Sustainability Champions Group. He has also been an active member of the Aerosol Society throughout his postgraduate and postdoctoral career, and has served on the Committee for several years, most recently taking up the role of Treasurer in November 2020, and as a member of the Institute of Physics.
EEH Themes:
Theme III Project 4: E-cigerettes toxicity and health effects from second-hand exposures
Theme IV Project 2: Microplastics and health
Publications:
Management Team
Dr Kerry Broom
Knowledge Mobilisation Manager
UK Health Security Agency
Kerry is working to mobilise knowledge generated in these three HPRUs, seeking opportunities for the translation of research into practice, policy and commercially, and strengthen the working relationships of stakeholders, the public and partners.
She has worked at the UK Health Security Agency (formerly Public Health England) for over 15 years and during that time, Kerry has provided scientific secretariat to the UK Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) and to the High-Risk Aerosol Generating Procedures Panel set up during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also has experience in scientific management of the Radiation Protection Research programme for the Department of Health.In recent years, Kerry’s role has focussed on scientific research on the neurobiological effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). She studied the effects of radiofrequency and power frequency field exposure on behaviour; gene expression and brain structure as well as exposure related effects on circadian rhythm control. She was involved with the international GERoNiMO project (Generalized EMF research using novel methods. An integrated approach: from research to risk assessment and support to risk management).
Publications:
Ms Valentina Lotti
PCIEP Administrator
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Dr Anastasia Ioakeimidou
CRTH HPRU Manager
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Dr David Rhodes
Knowledge Mobilisation Lead
Sadly deceased 16/12/23 and replaced by Dr Simon Bouffler to the end of the project.
KNOWLEDGE MOBILISATION MANAGER
PUBLIC,COMMUNITY, INVOLVEMENT, ENGAGEMENT & PARTICIPATION ADMINISTRATOR
CRTH HPRU MANAGER
In Memory
KNOWLEDGE MOBILISATION LEAD
Mrs Laura Ruane
Unit Administrator
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Dr Diana Varaden
PCIEP Coordinator
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Dr Diana Varaden is a Lecturer in the Environmental Research Group with multidisciplinary skills in the fields of air pollution and social science. She is interested in interdisciplinary work bridging natural science, social and health disciplines and in identifying the benefits of involving lay individuals in the research process.
Publications:
Dr Stephanie Wright
Theme IV Co-Lead
Environmental Research Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
Dr Stephanie Wright is a UKRI Rutherford Research Fellow and Lecturer in Environmental Toxicology at Imperial College London. Research in her lab focuses on the emerging topic of micro/nanoplastics and human health. With an emphasis on the air, her interests are in detection methods and exposures; biokinetics and -accumulation; and particle and chemical toxicology, all from a human health perspective.
EEH Themes:
Theme IV Project 2: Microplastics and health