Air Quality and its Role in Preventing Airborne Diseases

SUNY Distinguished Professor Gene Morse.

Provide new information that will stop the spread of airborne diseases like COVID-19.

Project description

The student will participate in the following:

  1. Obtain information on the role of airborne microbial transmission and its threat to human health.
  2. Obtain information on the different methods and technologies available to improve indoor air quality.
  3. Apply recognized search systems to collect and organize educational programs and identify regional education needs
  4. Identify areas of education that are needed in under-served communities and develop mechanisms for disseminating this information to schools, health, and community settings.

Air quality has been appreciated as a key strategy for preventing airborne diseases, such as tuberculosis and anthrax. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the global community to appreciate again the importance of improving and maintaining exceptional indoor air quality to prevent disease outbreaks. To support the efforts of improving air quality, this experiential learning project will provide a regional series of remote seminars that will update key stakeholders on the latest science and technology to improve their knowledge about the benefits of optimizing indoor air quality. 

Project outcome

  • Obtain information on the role of airborne microbial transmission and its threat to human health.
  • Obtain information on the different methods and technologies available to improve indoor air quality
  • Apply recognized search systems to collect and organize educational programs and identify regional education needs.
  • Identify areas of education that are needed in under-served communities and develop mechanisms for disseminating this information to schools, health care, and community settings.
  • Contribute to planning efforts to make the educational programs available to a larger region in Erie and Niagara County.
  • Participate in vision planning for building a regional air quality data collection infrastructure for under-served communities and advocate for health and disease prevention equity.

Project details

Timing, eligibility and other details
Length of commitment About 3-5 months
Start time Anytime
In-person, remote, or hybrid? Hybrid Project
Level of collaboration Small group project (2-3 students)
Benefits Academic credit
Who is eligible All undergraduate students 

Core partners

  • You First Services Group of Companies
  • Rethink Western New York Community Health Collaborative

Project mentor

Gene Morse

SUNY Distinguished Professor

Pharmacy Practice

Phone: (716) 881-7464

Email: emorse@buffalo.edu

Start the project

  1. Email the project mentor using the contact information above to express your interest and get approval to work on the project. (Here are helpful tips on how to contact a project mentor.)
  2. After you receive approval from the mentor to start this project, click the button to start the digital badge. (Learn more about ELN's digital badge options.) 
Start the Digital Badge

Preparation activities

Once you begin the digital badge series, you will have access to all the necessary activities and instructions. Your mentor has indicated they would like you to also complete the specific preparation activities below. Please reference this when you get to Step 2 of the Preparation Phase. 

  • Meeting with a Subject Librarian to write an annotated bibliography or literature review
  • Reading seminal articles or books
  • Meet with project mentors 

Keywords

air quality, disease transmission, prevention , pharmacy practice, public health, engineering, health professions