Conference: Human, Engineering, and Scientific Aspects of Disease Transmission in Natural and Built Environments

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

This NSF award will support a workshop entitled Human, Engineering, and Scientific Aspects of Disease Transmission in Natural and Built Environments. The workshop will be held during Fall 2023 at the Virginia Tech Executive Briefing Center in Arlington, Virginia. The overarching goal of the conference is to discuss and summarize the current state of the field including the latest advances and critical knowledge gaps on 1) how pathogens and diseases are transmitted in natural and built environments and 2) how human behavior affects and impacts pathogen/disease transmission, mitigation, and prevention in natural/built environments and within communities. Workshop attendees will include environmental engineers, environmental scientists, epidemiologists, policymakers, and other stakeholders. Attendees will exchange ideas and promote the development of new convergent research concepts focused on the topic of indoor and outdoor disease transmission within communities. NSF funding will enable the workshop organizers to provide travel grants to invited speakers, post-doctoral scholars, graduate students, and junior faculty from underrepresented groups. The proposed workshop will be organized by the Virginia Tech Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The goals of the conference are to (1) catalyze and facilitate the exchange of knowledge between engineers, scientists, health professionals, social scientists, and others with complementary expertise in pathogen/disease transmission, prevention, control, and mitigation; (2) identify and delineate critical knowledge gaps in the science and engineering of pathogen/disease transmission, mitigation, and prevention in natural/built environments and within communities; and (3) facilitate the networking of complementary groups of researchers to enhance the potential for future and transdisciplinary research collaborations to advance the fundamental science and engineering of pathogen/disease transmission and mitigation, and pandemic preparedness and prevention. The expected outcomes of the conference will include the drafting, development, and publications of a report and a peer-reviewed feature article that will discuss and suggest new, holistic approaches to assess and mitigate disease transmission in natural/built environments and within communities. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.