Delhi Air Pollution: Health aNd Effects (DAPHNE)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Sch of Informatics
Abstract
DAPHNE is a consortium of doctors, scientists and technologists drawn from 9 institutions (six in India and three in the UK), to study the effect of air pollution in the city of Delhi on the health of pregnant mothers and their new-born children, and asthmatic adolescents. This group is particularly vulnerable because of their greater intake of air with respect to the body weight, and an underdeveloped immunity system; and, also, the adolescents have greater outdoor exposure when travelling to school and during play times. In addition to estimating the amount of suspended particles and gaseous pollution inhaled by subjects using existing networks of stationary air quality monitors and satellite data, the project introduces novel devices worn on the person to measure exposure to suspended particles and noxious gases, and monitor their breathing rate and breathing effort when the subjects are out and about in their everyday lives. This will estimate the impact of air pollution on their asthma and how different levels of activity could contribute to changes in their condition. Biomarkers in samples of blood and urine taken from the subjects will be used as further evidence to estimate the effects of air pollution on changes in their well-being. Finally, a panel of stakeholders drawn from India and the UK will advise on how best the research results can be translated into interventions to help mitigate the effects for the benefit of the citizens of Delhi in the first instance, with potential for world-wide application in the future.
Planned Impact
The DAPHNE research consortium brings together a team with a proven track record of research expertise in air pollution exposure and its impact on health. The primary aim of the DAPHNE is to understand the early life effects of air pollution in Delhi by estimating exposure-response relationships between ambient air pollution exposures and health effects (birth weight, acute respiratory infections in children < 2 years) and asthma exacerbations in adolescents aged 12-18 years. Given the young demography of the population in India and other developing countries, impacts of air pollution in utero and on children will carry serious public health and human resource consequences in the future. Despite the widespread prevalence of high air pollution exposures in developing countries, few cohort studies exist that are devoted to examining the association between long-term air pollution exposures and health outcomes. As a consequence of this study we will better understand the implications for vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, infants and adolescents. Through a better understanding of the contribution of different sources of pollution to people's exposure, more cost-effective reductions in exposure can be targeted to reduce the health burden of air pollution. In concert with results from projects from other Themes in this call, a multi-pronged approach to reducing the burden of disease from air pollution can be developed, both at a macro-level, e.g., source emission reduction, and at a micro-level, e.g., changing behaviours. In practical terms these could be in the form of advisories for asthmatic adolescents personalised to their state of health for the threshold of exertion that they could tolerate for the environmental parameters on the day, or recommendation of routes that that mothers-to-be can take for travel within Delhi.
Organisations
- University of Edinburgh (Lead Research Organisation)
- World Health Organization (WHO) (Collaboration)
- Leiden University Medical Center (Collaboration)
- WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE (Collaboration)
- National Health Service (Collaboration)
- British Heart Foundation (BHF) (Collaboration)
- Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (Collaboration)
- University of Delhi (Collaboration)
- Centre for Chronic Disease Control (CCDC) (Collaboration)
- IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration)
Publications
Arvind D
(2023)
Monitoring coughs using a chest-wearable Respeck
Drummond GB
(2020)
Current clinical methods of measurement of respiratory rate give imprecise values.
in ERJ open research
Drummond GB
(2021)
Classifying signals from a wearable accelerometer device to measure respiratory rate.
in ERJ open research
Keogan S
(2023)
Particle Exposure Hazards of Visiting Outdoor Smoking Areas for Patients with Asthma or COPD Even in EU Countries with Comprehensive Smokefree Laws.
in International journal of environmental research and public health
| Description | 1. Data was collected by asthmatic adolescents in Delhi, India wearing the Airspeck personal PM (airborne particulates) exposure monitor, and the Respeck sensor (respiratory rate/flow, and intensity and classification of physical activity and social signals such as coughs) over a 48-hour period. Causal discovery methods were developed to analyse the two time-synchronised sensor data streams for short-term causal relationships from exposure to PM to respiratory rate and coughing episodes, respectively, for time lags in the first 60 minutes at minute-level intervals, and for time lags between 2 to 8 hours at 15-minute time intervals. The data-driven method resulted in the method for e the two time-series sensor data streams derived from the wearable sensors. A metric based on the number of causal links was used to stratify the sensitivity (to air pollution) of asthma subjects which was substantiated by their pulmonary function tests and biomarkers derived from blood and urine samples taken at the end of the 48-hour data collection period. 2. Machine learning methods have been developed to classify 14 human physical activity (such as lying down, sitting/standing, walking (with step-counts), climbing up and down stairs) and 4 social signals (such as coughs and speech episodes) at minute-level time resolution of the DAPHNE asthmatic adolescents wearing the Respeck monitor as a plaster on the chest. |
| Exploitation Route | The stratification of asthmatic adolescents based on their sensitivity to air pollution will identify subjects who are most sensitive and their care pathway adapted accordingly. A 12-month study is underway to monitor 30 DAPHNE patients who are classified as being highly, or moderately sensitive, or insensitive to air pollution. This study will determine the stability of the stratification over an extended period across different seasons and develop clinical care pathways and personalised nudges on their phones for the asthma patients to manage their condition. |
| Sectors | Environment Healthcare |
| Description | The Centre for Speckled Computing has gained national and international recognition for its unique wearable sensor technology for contemporaneous personal PM exposure and respiratory rate/flow monitoring and sensor data analytics . We have been selective in collaborating with non-academic partners and the following are two examples which have been elaborated in the other sections of this submission: 1. Collaborated with British Heart Foundation to provide the wearable Airspeck monitors to a select number of MPs in the Westminster parliament with interests in environmental issues so that they could collect personal exposure data in their constituencies and were able to make informed contributions to the debate on the second reading of the Environment Bill in February 2020. 2. Collaborated with the World Resources Institute in two cities in Mexico, Leon and Guadalajara, to provide personal exposure data to inform policies in developing ultra low emission zones in the city centres. Detailed personal exposure measurements based on a network of stationary Airspeck monitors in the historical city centres and volunteers wearing Airspeck exposure monitors traversing this area were analysed to provide recommendations to the environmental department in the local government on the boundary for the ultra low emission zones. 3. The Respeck device used in the DAPHNE project for monitoring respiratory rate and respiratory flow/effort is being used in a clinical study in collaboration with NHS Borders for continuous, remote monitoring of COPD patients and guided self-management of the pulmonary rehabilitation by the COPD patients at home. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
| Sector | Environment,Healthcare |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | Health assessment across biological length scales for personal pollution exposure and its mitigation (INHALE) |
| Amount | £2,793,915 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/T003189/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2019 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Description | Implementation research on the tailored, multidisciplinary NCD prevention package FRESHAIR4LIFE: Targeting tobacco and air pollution exposure in mid- to late adolescents in disadvantaged populations |
| Amount | € 3,000,000 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | 101095461 |
| Organisation | European Commission |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Start | 01/2023 |
| End | 12/2026 |
| Description | MRC-AHRC Global Public Health: Partnership Award |
| Amount | £199,182 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | MC_PC_MR/R024405/1 |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2018 |
| End | 06/2020 |
| Description | Monitoring COVID-19 Patients using the Respeck device at the Lothian Regional Infectious Diseases Unit (RIDU) funded by Data-Driven Innovation Small Grants Fund |
| Amount | £20,964 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2020 |
| End | 08/2020 |
| Description | Remote monitoring and pulmonary rehabilitation of COVID19- recovered and COPD patients in the NHS Borders region funded under the Data-Driven Innovation (DDI) BEACON Build Back Better Open Call |
| Amount | £24,960 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2021 |
| End | 07/2021 |
| Description | BHF MP AIR |
| Organisation | British Heart Foundation (BHF) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The Centre for Speckled Computing, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) collaborated to provide a selection of six members of parliament at Westminster with the Airspeck Personal monitor (developed as part of the UKRI=funded DAPHNE and PHILAP projects) to record their exposure to airborne particulates smaller than 2.5 micrometer (one-millionth of a meter) - PM2.5 - for 1 week in their constituencies. The MPs were encouraged to share their personal exposure profile in their social media accounts and make informed contributions to the debate in the House of Commons to the second reading of the Environment Bill in favour of the government reducing levels of PM2.5. |
| Collaborator Contribution | BHF recruited the MPs, liaised with them and trained the MPs in using the Airspeck devices after receiving training from the researchers at University of Edinburgh. |
| Impact | Christine Jardine, MP Edinburgh West - Article in the Scotsman https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/air-pollution-its-clear-edinburgh-has-real-problem-christine-jardine-1995407. Video posted in her twitter account - https://twitter.com/cajardineMP/status/1230527448208506886 Dr. James Davies, MP for Vale of Clwyd. Video posted - https://twitter.com/JamesDavies/status/1227936444632707072 https://twitter.com/JamesDavies/status/1230943630094983169 Dr. Davies's contribution to the debate - excerpt from Hansard dated 26th February, 2020 (http://bit.ly/3a8VRlK) = "Recently, I carried a British Heart Foundation particulate monitor around my constituency as part of a wider study being conducted by the University of Edinburgh. Daily exposure to fine particulate matter was relatively low at 11 to 43 micrograms of matter per cubic metre, but for brief periods in the vicinity of main roads, I recorded levels greater than 10 times the current EU limits we subscribe to, and more than 20 times the World Health Organisation recommended levels. These figures are concerning, and I am pleased that the Bill contains a commitment to a new legally binding target for levels of fine particulate matter. I encourage Ministers to go further and consider whether a specific figure should be included in legislation at this point, based on WHO recommendations of an annual mean level of 10 micrograms per cubic metre." |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Health assessment across biological length scales for personal pollution exposure and its mitigation (INHALE) |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The Centre for Speckled Computing, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh has contributed the following: 1. The Respeck, Airspeck-P and Airspeck-S sensors are being deployed in London to monitor 40 asthmatic adults and 40 controls using a similar protocol to the ones used in the DAPHNE and PHILAP projects. 2. The sensor data analytics of the Respeck and Airspeck datasets using a combination of statistical and machine learning methods developed in the DAPHNE and PHILAP projects. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partners at Imperial College London have recruited the asthma patients; the cellular analysis of the airborne particles injected into nasal epithelial cells; the imaging of the air pollutants inside and outwith the cells; the modelling of the air pollution dispersion in London using the finite element analysis. |
| Impact | Prashant Kumar, Gopinath Kalaiarasan, Alexandra E Porter, Alessandra Pinna, Michal M Klosowski, Philip Demokritou, Kian Fan Chung, Christopher Pain, D K Arvind, Rossella Arcucci, Ian M Adcock, Claire Dilliway An overview of methods of fine and ultrafine particle collection for physicochemical characterisation and toxicity assessments November 2020Science of The Total Environment In Press:143553 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143553 The mulitdisciplinary collaboration brings together respiratory physicians, cell biologists, modellers, exposure scientists, material scientists and computer scientists. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Implementation research on the tailored, multidisciplinary NCD prevention package FRESHAIR4LIFE: Targeting tobacco and air pollution exposure in mid- to late adolescents in disadvantaged populations |
| Organisation | Leiden University Medical Center |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) are the leading cause of ill health and premature mortality. Although we know how to mitigate risk factors and prevent NCDs, we have failed to apply this knowledge, especially in disadvantaged populations. FA4LIFE aims to bridge this translational gap, and gain knowledge, resources and capacity to optimize implementation of co-created, multi-level, evidence-based tobacco and air pollution (AP) exposure prevention packages targeting adolescents in disadvantaged populations. The Centre for Speckled Computing, School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh is contributing the wearable Airspeck personal sensors developed in the UKRI-funded DAPHNE (NERC/MRC) and PHILAP (MRC/AHRC) projects, to measure personal exposure to airborne particulates and the analysis of the data collected to inform mitigation measures in four countries: Greece, Kyrgyz Republic, Romania, and Uganda. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The FA4LIFE project (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101095461) includes primary care physicians; computer scientists, exposure scientists; psychologists with expertise in behavioural change for smoking cessation and reducing personal exposure to air pollution; implementation scientists; and, health economists. |
| Impact | No outputs so far. Disciplines involved: primary care medicine; public health policy; health economics; computer science; data science; behavioural psychology; exposure science. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | PHILAP: Public Health Initiative on LMIC Air Pollution (MC_PC_MR/R024405/1) |
| Organisation | Centre for Chronic Disease Control (CCDC) |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Hospitals |
| PI Contribution | PHILAP is funded by a MRC-AHRC Global Public Health: Partnership Award starting in March 2018 for a period of 18 months. Prof Arvind is the PI on both the DAPHNE and PHILAP projects and PHILAP draws on the existing DAPHNE sensor data collection and analysis infrastructure in Delhi. PHILAP will combine scientific data on personal exposure to air pollution of asthmatic adolescents from deprived areas in Delhi, with qualitative narratives of their experience lived in the margins of society. PHILAP will engage the ethnographic data in productive dialogue with the spatio-temporal personal exposure measurements from wearable sensors to create stylised animation sequences conveying pithy messages on the unequal burden of air pollution in developing countries. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partners in India and their contributions include :The Institute for Economic Growth (IEG), University of Delhi (Prof. Amita Baviskar is investigating urban environmental politics with a focus on social inequality) ; The School of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (Prof. Nina Sabnani is contributing towards the design of visual narratives which captures the experience of living with asthma in Delhi across different socio-economic classes); Centre for Chronic Disease Control, Delhi (Prof. Prabhakaran will contribute towards correlating disease control with air pollution exposure). |
| Impact | The collaboration started in March 2018 and too early to report outputs or outcomes. The collaboration is multidisciplinary bringing together computer scientists, sociologists, designers, anthropologists, and public health clinicians. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | PHILAP: Public Health Initiative on LMIC Air Pollution (MC_PC_MR/R024405/1) |
| Organisation | Indian Institute of Technology Bombay |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | PHILAP is funded by a MRC-AHRC Global Public Health: Partnership Award starting in March 2018 for a period of 18 months. Prof Arvind is the PI on both the DAPHNE and PHILAP projects and PHILAP draws on the existing DAPHNE sensor data collection and analysis infrastructure in Delhi. PHILAP will combine scientific data on personal exposure to air pollution of asthmatic adolescents from deprived areas in Delhi, with qualitative narratives of their experience lived in the margins of society. PHILAP will engage the ethnographic data in productive dialogue with the spatio-temporal personal exposure measurements from wearable sensors to create stylised animation sequences conveying pithy messages on the unequal burden of air pollution in developing countries. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partners in India and their contributions include :The Institute for Economic Growth (IEG), University of Delhi (Prof. Amita Baviskar is investigating urban environmental politics with a focus on social inequality) ; The School of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (Prof. Nina Sabnani is contributing towards the design of visual narratives which captures the experience of living with asthma in Delhi across different socio-economic classes); Centre for Chronic Disease Control, Delhi (Prof. Prabhakaran will contribute towards correlating disease control with air pollution exposure). |
| Impact | The collaboration started in March 2018 and too early to report outputs or outcomes. The collaboration is multidisciplinary bringing together computer scientists, sociologists, designers, anthropologists, and public health clinicians. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | PHILAP: Public Health Initiative on LMIC Air Pollution (MC_PC_MR/R024405/1) |
| Organisation | University of Delhi |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | PHILAP is funded by a MRC-AHRC Global Public Health: Partnership Award starting in March 2018 for a period of 18 months. Prof Arvind is the PI on both the DAPHNE and PHILAP projects and PHILAP draws on the existing DAPHNE sensor data collection and analysis infrastructure in Delhi. PHILAP will combine scientific data on personal exposure to air pollution of asthmatic adolescents from deprived areas in Delhi, with qualitative narratives of their experience lived in the margins of society. PHILAP will engage the ethnographic data in productive dialogue with the spatio-temporal personal exposure measurements from wearable sensors to create stylised animation sequences conveying pithy messages on the unequal burden of air pollution in developing countries. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partners in India and their contributions include :The Institute for Economic Growth (IEG), University of Delhi (Prof. Amita Baviskar is investigating urban environmental politics with a focus on social inequality) ; The School of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (Prof. Nina Sabnani is contributing towards the design of visual narratives which captures the experience of living with asthma in Delhi across different socio-economic classes); Centre for Chronic Disease Control, Delhi (Prof. Prabhakaran will contribute towards correlating disease control with air pollution exposure). |
| Impact | The collaboration started in March 2018 and too early to report outputs or outcomes. The collaboration is multidisciplinary bringing together computer scientists, sociologists, designers, anthropologists, and public health clinicians. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Personal Exposure to Environmental Pollutants (PEEPs) |
| Organisation | World Health Organization (WHO) |
| Department | South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO) |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The project is concerned with measuring the personal exposure to airborne particulate pollution for 72 employees of UN agencies in Delhi, India. The wearable sensors for measuring personal exposure (Airspeck-Personal) and breathing rate/flow and physical activity levels (Respeck) and stationary sensors for monitoring ambient airborne particulate concentrations, and the data analytics algorithms, were developed as part of the UKRI-funded PHILAP and DAPHNE projects. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The WHO Southeast Asia office in Delhi recruited 72 UN employees in Delhi who volunteered to wear the Airspeck and Respeck devices (developed as part of the current UKRI-funded DAPHNE and INHALE projects) in two phases, during the summer and winter months of 2018-19. |
| Impact | The project brings together exposure scientists, public health officers, and computer/data scientists. The information on the time-weighted exposure to particulate air pollution of the 72 UN employees in the micro-environments at home, work and during commute provided the UN agencies and their employees in Delhi the following: (1) evidence on occupational exposure and therefore the efficacy of the air filtering system at a selection of UN offices; (2) Each paritcipant was provided with detailed personal reports for the two phases. providing continuous PM2.5 exposure over time and by location. This information was essential at the institutional level for the administration to formulate policies for distance working on "bad air" days; for the UN agencies to consider providing loans for employees with poor air quality at home to purchase air purifiers; and for the employees to change their behaviour such as reconsider modes of transport and routes to work based on their personal exposure measurements. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Personal exposure and ambient air quality monitoring in Leon and Guadalajara (Mexico) to inform decisions on ultra low emission zones |
| Organisation | World Resources Institute |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The Centre for Speckled Computing, University of Edinburgh, provided 6 Airspeck stationary ambient air quality monitors and 3 Airspeck personal sensors and phones to set up a network in the city centre of Leon and Guadalajara in Mexico during the period October 2019 to February 2020. In collaboration with WRI Mexico and the Environment departments of the city of Leon and Guadalajara with support from the Mayors' offices, volunteers wearing the Airspeck personal sensors walked/cycled daily in the city centre within the area circumscribed by the six stationary sensors. One of the researchers from the University of Edinburgh travelled to Mexico (funded by WRI Mexico) to set up the sensors and trained scientists at WRI and volunteers from the Environment department in the city government in their operation. Professor D K Arvind travelled to Mexico in late November 2019 to give 3 talks sponsored by WRI Mexico which summarised the results from the Leon deployment and prepared the deployment in Guadalajara from 17 Dec 2019 until Feb. 2020. The researchers in Edinburgh are involved in completing the final analysis of data collected from both cities and preparing publications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | WRI Mexico liaised with the local government authorities in the cities of Leon and Guadalajara. They chose the sites where the stationary sensors were to be placed and interfaced with the volunteers in the two cities. The scientists in WRI Mexico will also contribute to the analysis and interpretation of the air quality data and the recommendations to the local governments. They contributed to the travel and subsistence of two visits by University of Edinburgh personnel and appointment a liaison person who interfaced between the researchers in Edinburgh and the volunteers on the ground in Leon and Guadalajara. |
| Impact | The project is ongoing and currently the data is being analysed and will be published as a report and peer-reviewed publications. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Remote Monitoring and Pulmonary Rehabilitation of COPD patients in NHS Borders |
| Organisation | National Health Service |
| Department | NHS Borders |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Hospitals |
| PI Contribution | The Respeck sensor and the sensor data analytics methods developed and employed in the UKRI-funded DAPHNE and PHILAP projects were applied to the problem of monitoring remotely COPD patients in their homes in collaboration with NHS Borders. A mobile App communicated continuously the Respeck sensor data on the patients' respiratory rate/flow and the levels and types of physical activity to the Care Team in NHS Borders via a GoogleCloud based dashboard enabling them to manage remotely their caseload of COPD patients at home during the COVID-19 self-isolation periods in 2021. In addition the mobile App orchestrated pulmonary rehabilitation exercises so COPD patients could exercise at a time and place of their choosing and the results communicated to the physiotherapists for viewing asynchronously. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The pulmonary rehabilitation team at NHS Borders recruited the COPD patients who would benefit from monitoring, provided feedback on the user interface for the patients and the dashboard for the Care Team. |
| Impact | The collaboration has yielded two presentations to the Scottish Pulmonary Rehabilitation Acton Group to inform respiratory physiotherapists Scotland-wide on the progress of the project and the intermediate results. There are discussions taking place on the establishment of a Virtual Respiratory Ward for the care of COPD patients in NHS Borders. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | An invited article in the New Statesman magazine supplement (published on 4 November, 2017) entitled "Air Pollution: the fight for clean cities". |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Professor D K Arvind was invited to contribute an article for a New Statesman supplement entitled "Air pollution: the fight for clean cities". This was one of four contributed articles including one by the mayor of London, Mr. Sadiq Khan. The New Statesman has a circulation of 35,000 for the print version and in June 2016 there were 5,393,792 visitors and 4,091,832 unique visitors to the New Statesman website and 27,291,666 pageviews. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.newstatesman.com/sites/default/files/ns_clean_cities_supplement_nov_2017.pdf |
| Description | Every Breath You Take |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | "Every Breath You Take" [1] was a ticketed talk given by Professor D K Arvind at the Edinburgh International Science Festival scheduled on Sunday, 7th April Sunday, 12 noon. in the auditorium at the National Museum of Scotland. The 1-hour talk was followed by a hands-on session where the members of the audience wore the Airspeck sensors )developed as part of the DAPHNE/PHILAP projects) and took a short walk around the museum and were able to view a ,map of their route with colour-coded exposure levels on the large screen when they returned the monitors. The talk was reviewed in the Lancet Respiratory journal [2], and the article resulted in a number of inquiries. One such inquiry was from Dr. Crystal North MD, MPH, a clinician in the Department of Pulmonology and Critical Medicine a the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health. We lent her two of the Airspeck and Respeck sensors which were piloted in a research project in Mbarara, Uganda in November 2019 investigating the susceptibility of people living with HIV to air pollution-associated lung diseases. Following the success of this pilot, we were also approached by Dr Peter Moschovis MD a colleague of Dr North with a request to use the devices for a clinical trial to study the impact of household air pollution on lung growth in infants recovering from pneumonia. We have now shipped six Airspeck stationary ambient air quality monitors, five Airspeck wearable personal exposure monitors, five Respeck respiratory and physical activity monitors,and five mobile phones (developed as part of the DAPHNE/PHILAP projects) to Boston enroute to southwest Uganda to be used in the two clinical trials. As a result of this collaboration, Professor Arvind will be submitting a research proposal to MRC Applied Global Health Research Board (deadline 7 April, 2020) to fund the UK end of the US-Uganda-UK collaboration for a large-scale deployment of the Airspeck/Respeck sensors and widen the scope of the study by including UK clinical partners. [1] https://www.ed.ac.uk/informatics/news-events/stories/2019/informatics-events-at-the-ed-int-sci-fest-2019 [2] https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lanres/PIIS2213-2600(19)30151-1.pdf |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2019 |
| Description | Expert Panel on Air Pollution broadcast on national television (NDTV) in New Delhi, India on 4th December, 2017. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Professor Arvind was invited to join, as an expert, a discussion panel on air pollution in Delhi broadcast on national television (NDTV) on Monday 4th December on the prime-time "Buck stops here" programme. The air quality in Delhi during this period was particularly bad and a hot topical issue as a touring cricket team playing a test match in Delhi had to withdraw due to the adverse health effect on the players. The TV appearance was followed by interview requests from national newspapers resulting in 15 articles in English language newspapers. This was an opportunity to highlight the DAPHNE project which is researching the health effects of air pollution in Delhi. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.ndtv.com/video/sports/the-buck-stops-here/pollution-halts-india-sri-lanka-test-delhi-air... |
| Description | Keynote speaker at the 29th IEEE/ITMC ICE conference on the opening day on 19 June, 2023. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The 29th IEEE/ITMC ICE Conference (19-22 June) held in Edinburgh in 2023 is a well-established conference which brings together academics, doctoral/post-doctoral researchers and practitioners in innovation theory and practice in the fields of engineering and technology. There was a satellite summer school for doctoral students. The title of the keynote talk on the opening day was entitled "Sensor data-driven personalised healthcare" based in the research in the UKRI-funded DAPHNE and PHILAP project. The talk was very well received; one of the attendees invited me to be the "Opponent" (external examiner) of his doctoral student at the Tampere University in Finland on 13th October, 2023. I was also invited to give a public lecture on the topic of my Edinburgh presentation at the Medical Faculty of Tampere University on 12th October, 2023. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/ice-2023/programme/ |
| Description | Monitoring of ambient air pollution inside and outside primary schools in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The aim was to monitor ambient concentrations of airborne pollutants of diameter less than 2.5 microns inside and around three primary schools in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. The Airspeck stationary monitors were mounted in street furniture In the approach to the schools and inside the school playgrounds. These monitors function autonomously powered off solar cells and upload sensor data via the cellular network for storage in the GoogleCloud which the partners in the school and officials in the local Borough can access via a password-controlled dashboard. The ongoing project is collecting continuously air quality data at time resolution ranging from 5 minutes during summer and 30 minutes during winter months over a 12-month period. The resulting dataset will provide insights on compliance to WHO guidelines for exposure levels in school children in inner London schools. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | Use of the Airspeck personal exposure monitor in a TV programme "Fighting for Air", screened nationally on BBC2 on the 10th January 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The AirSpeck monitor was used in the filming of a case study looking at the effects of exposure to air pollution on health parameters of the the TV presenter, Xand van Tulleken. The TV programme, "Fighting for Air", was screened nationally on BBC2 on the 10th January 2018. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |