CHILI is led by a team of researchers from different fields, including engineering, health, medicine, mental health, and education. Organisations leading CHILI include: University College London, Imperial College London, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Swansea University, UK Health Security Agency, University of Leeds and the Stockholm Environment Institute University of York.
Professor of Building Performance Analysis | Director of UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, UCL
CHILI Hub Co-Director and Engage Work Package Co-Lead
Research Interests:
I have over 20 years’ experience leading research on school building performance, health, and cognitive outcomes. I helped develop the world’s first Modelling Platform for Schools, shaping UK carbon baselines and climate risk assessments. My work informs national guidelines, EU standards, and policies for healthier, sustainable learning environments.
More information: Dejan Mumovic Profile | University College London
Professor of epidemiology
UCL (Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health)
CHILI Hub Co-Director and Understand Work Package Co-Lead
Research Interests:
I am an epidemiologist with expertise in analysing linked, administrative data for child health research. My research focuses on the epidemiology of respiratory infections in children (including influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus), the impact of climate change on pollution on child health, and child health inequalities.
More information:
Workstream, measuring indoor air pollution in classrooms and schools comparing it with outdoor pollution data, creating standards and comparisons across areas
Principal Environmental Public Health Specialist – Indoor Environments, UKHSA
Visiting Professor, Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, The Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources, UCL
Chili Hub Role: Map Work Package Co-Lead and Member of the Executive Committee
Research Interests:
I have over 30 years’ experience researching air pollution and health, focusing on exposure assessment and indoor air quality. My work has shaped UK and WHO guidelines, informed national reports, and advanced climate-health research. I co-lead projects on healthy indoor environments and modelling for climate change and health security.
More information:
Senior Lecturer
Imperial College London
Chili Hub role
Map Work Package Co-Lead
Research Interests:
I use maths and science to understand air quality in schools, and try to understand how it affects children, young people, and staff; and most importantly I try to understand how we can improve our school environments.
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Environmental Public Health Scientist (SEO)
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)
Chili Hub Role: Lead Researcher
Research Interests:
I’m an air pollution researcher at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). My work focuses on monitoring air quality and understanding its impact on public health, using data-driven approaches to support evidence-based policy and interventions. With expertise in environmental monitoring and urban air quality, I collaborate across sectors to build healthier, more resilient communities.
More information:
Low cost internet of things based sensor networks for air quality in cities
Research Associate
Imperial College London
Chili Hub Role: Conducting data analysis of indoor air quality data and contextual data
Research Interests:
I am interested in indoor pollutant dispersion, building ventilation, and urban fluid mechanics.
More information: Alice Handy Profile | Imperial College London
Environmental Public Health Scientist
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)
Chili Hub Role: Supporting scientist for deep dive environmental monitoring in 20 schools.
Research Interests:
I am an environmental scientist with experience in indoor air quality monitoring. My work focusses on developing environmental monitoring capability within UKHSA to support public health research and incident response. My background is indoor air chemistry and I am interested in how air quality impacts our health.
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Imperial College London
Chili Hub Role: Sam works on the analysis and modelling of indoor air quality and school environments.
Research Interests:
Sam’s research interests focus on indoor air quality, maximising our understanding of air quality and exposure in schools and other occupied spaces. His wider experience includes epidemiological modelling and CBRN respirator design.
More information:
workstream, combining data on indoor air quality and heat with national health and education information, looking at how indoor pollution and heat affects health and attendance
Clinical Associate Professor / UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and Honorary Consultant Paediatrician
UCL (Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health)
Chili Hub Role: Clinical expertise in respiratory and health diagnoses and associated outcomes captured in administrative datasets, and in methodological approaches to study design
Research Interests:
I’m a Clinical Associate Professor at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and an honorary consultant in paediatric respiratory medicine. My research focuses on using routine health data and embedding clinical trials in care. I co-lead UK and international cystic fibrosis research networks advancing treatment evaluation.
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Professor (Particle and Fibre Toxicology/Advanced In Vitro Systems)
Swansea University
Chili Hub Role: Lead the toxicological assessment of the different pollutants observed within the indoor environment. Linkage of this wet-lab analyses with exposure assessment and broader data assessment of exposure to indoor pollutants will help with the aetiology of the pollutant hazard to human health.
Research Interests:
I’m a Professor of Particle and Fibre Toxicology, specialising in advanced in vitro lung models to study inhalation toxicology. My research explores particle-cell interactions and real-world multi-pollutant exposures. I advise UK and Welsh governments on air pollution as a member of COMEAP and the Clean Air Advisory Panel.
More information:
Senior research fellow
University College London
Chili Hub Role: Lead Researcher
Research Interests:
My research primarily uses longitudinal big data linked with environmental factors, including built environment characteristics, to understand how these influence the health and school absenteeism of children and young people.
More information:
Professor of Environment and Health
Swansea University Medical School
Senior Research Leader, Health and Care Research Wales
Co-Director HDRUK Wales
Chili Hub Role: Co-lead of Understand and Wales lead
Research Interests:
I’m a Professor of Environment and Health at Swansea University Medical School, leading the Environment and Health Research Team. My work uses advanced analytical techniques to explore social and environmental factors affecting health and wellbeing. With a background in Geographic Information Science, I focus on data-driven solutions for public health.
More information:
Rich Fry Profile | Swansea University
PhD student / Research assistant
UCL (Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health)
Chili Hub Role:
Difei Shi is a PhD student and research assistant contributing to a project examining school indoor environments, nursery characteristics, and their association with children’s health and educational outcomes, using data from the ECHILD database and the Millennium Cohort Study.
Research Interests:
Difei Shi is interested in how school and nursery environments relate to children’s health and wellbeing, particularly respiratory health and school attendance in early years and primary school. Her research focuses on how environmental factors in educational settings are associated with children’s health, learning, and development.
More information:
Research assistant
UCL (Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health)
Chili Hub Role:
Liliane is a Research Assistant supporting with the administrative running of the CHILI Hub. She is also researching into how attendance of state vs independent schools impact student’s mode of travel, and implications for wellbeing.
Research Interests:
Liliane’s research interests centre on exploring how co-produced approaches support wellbeing among refugee-background children. More broadly, she is interested in the impact of educational resources, literacy acquisition, and learning environments on children’s health and wellbeing.
Research Officer and Data Scientist
Swansea University
Chili Hub Role:
Researcher
Research Interests:
My research uses big data to explore how the environments where people live influence health. By combining geographic, population, and health data, I investigate environmental exposures and health inequalities. My work integrates epidemiology, geospatial analysis, and data science to generate evidence that informs public health research, policy, and healthier communities.
PhD Student
Swansea University
Chili Hub Role:
I am a PhD student conducting statistical analyses to understand the short-term effects of air pollution on children with Asthma. These analyses use routinely collected healthcare data held within the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank, with the aim of identifying how exposure to air pollutants affects the risk of requiring clinical contact.
Contact Information:
workstream, creating models to understand the impact of climate change and energy-efficient building changes on indoor environments, predicting how changes affect health
Professor
University College London
Chili Hub Role: Co-lead WP3 ‘Model’
Research Interests:
I’m a Professor of Building Physics and Environment at UCL and founding Director of the UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering. My research explores how built environments affect health and wellbeing in a changing climate, promoting healthy, sustainable development through interdisciplinary collaboration and evidence-based design.
Associate Professor in Climate Change, Environment & Health
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Chili Hub Role: I co-lead Work Package 3 with Mike Davies (UCL). We are developing models to assess the health impacts of net zero pathways in educational settings and their associated health and infrastructure costs.
Research Interests:
My research involves mathematical modelling of environmental interventions and their impacts on human health, with a particular focus on the health effects of climate change mitigation actions.
More information:
James Milner Profile | London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Lecturer,
UCL Bartlett, BSEER, IEDE
Chili Hub Role:
Lead the Life Cycle Analysis modelling and simulation part of the project. Contributing to the development and the application of MPS – the Modelling Platform for Schools.
Research Interests:
I am an expert in Life Cycle Analysis and Circular Economy of building systems with a strong interest in building thermal modelling, simulation, and the development of stock models and data-driven analysis. I am interested in developing digital tools to enhance the way Life Cycle Analysis in the built environment is explored.
More information:
workstream, assessing if current technologies and behaviours to improve indoor environments actually help
Director
Born in Bradford Centre for Applied Education Research, University of Leeds
Chili Hub Role: Academic analytics lead for connected health and education data.
Research Interests:
I’m Academic Director of the Wolfson Centre for Applied Health Research and an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. My work spans child health, education, and environmental risk, leading major UK research programmes and advising government on science, education, and health policy.
More information:
Professor of Sustainable, Healthy and Equitable Built Environment
Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering (IEDE), The Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources (BSEER), UCL
Chili Hub Role: Involved in WP4, leading WP4c
Research Interests:
I’m an expert in building indoor environmental quality and energy performance, with a background in architectural engineering and building physics. My research focuses on climate change adaptation, addressing overheating and air pollution at building and urban scales, and their impacts on health, wellbeing, and health inequalities.
More information:
Lecturer in Indoor Air
University of Leeds
Chili Hub Role: Dr Booker is the co-lead of WP4, which will evaluate and test the impact of various interventions in educational settings on indoor air quality, heat exposure, and associated health impacts. Dr Booker is leading on evaluating the health impacts of classroom air cleaning technologies, as well as understanding how school decision-makers are balancing health, comfort, and energy priorities in schools.
Research Interests:
I’m a geographer with an interdisciplinary background in indoor air quality and environmental justice. My research combines qualitative and quantitative methods to examine social and physical dimensions of IAQ, uncovering inequalities and the mechanisms that sustain them, and developing approaches to improve air quality for vulnerable communities.
More information:
MPhil/PhD UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, UCL
Chili Hub Role: PhD student, supervised under Dejan Mumovic and Anna Mavrogianni
Research Interests:
Indoor Environmental Modelling of schools in the UK.
More information:
Email: yuang.dai.25@ucl.ac.uk
workstream, working with children, young people, and teachers to develop ways of measuring how indoor environments affect children’s health and learning
Professor / Centre Director
SEI York, University of York
Chili Hub Role: Co-leading the Involve work package, bringing youth and school staff voices into the project
Research Interests:
I’m a citizen science researcher and practitioner, which means that I love involving different people in research projects. For the past few years I’ve been working on several air quality projects, including SAMHE in schools and INGENIOUS in homes. I’m Director of SEI York which is a research organisation working on environmental issues around the world.
More information:
Senior Lecturer in Science Education
University of York, Department of Education
Chili Hub Role: Co-investigator for the Involve work package, drawing on experience of conducting reviews and designing participatory research projects with young people and teachers.
Research Interests:
I focus on science and environmental education, empowering young people to participate in environmental decision-making. My work promotes climate education and supports youth activism.
More information:
Lynda Dunlop Profile | University of York
Research Associate
University of York Science Education Group, Department of Education, University of York
Chili Hub Role: Supporting research about student health and education based on air-quality of schools
Research Interests:
I specialize in science and environmental education, focusing on teacher agency and empowering youth voice in decision-making.
More information:
Research Associate
SEI York, University of York
Chili Hub Role: Citizen Science methods researcher
Research Interests:
I specialize in citizen science, focusing on methods that promote diversity, inclusion, and youth citizen science.
More information:
Research Associate
SEI York, University of York
Chili Hub Role: Supporting research about student health and education based on air-quality of schools
Research Interests:
Experiential and environmental education, citizen science, youth participatory action research, youth agency, teacher education
More information:
Project Manager
SEI York, University of York
Chili Hub Role: Project manager for Involve work package, overseeing monitor deployment for WP1 and associated SAMHE Web App development
Research Interests:
Science and environmental education; youth participation in environmental decision making; climate education and activism.
More information:
Research Software Engineer
SEI York, University of York
Chili Hub Role: Leading the development of the web application
Research Interests:
I aspire to engage all stakeholders in solving complex problems through engaging web applications. This can include game based learning, interactive data visualisation and ensuring accessibility throughout.
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Software developer
SEI York, University of York
Chili Hub Role: SAMHE Web App development
Research Interests:
I specialize in full-stack web development and data visualization.
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Research Officer
Swansea University
Chili Hub Role: I manage HAPPEN-Wales, a national network aimed at improving the health, wellbeing and education outcomes of primary school children across Wales. My research involves advocating for the wants and needs of young people in their local communities to improve health and wellbeing. My work is primarily co-produced with young people to help give them a voice on matters that affect them.
Research Interests:
I focus on children’s health and wellbeing, exploring how they perceive the built environment and using their voices to drive meaningful change.
More information:
Research Assistant
Swansea University
Chili Hub Role: Research Assistant
Research Interests:
Education, Population/Public Heath, Physical Activity
workstream, identifying and describing challenges in making school buildings energy efficient through building a network of people and organisations involved
Professor of Environmental Engineering for Buildings
University of Leeds
Chili Hub Role: I will be involved in bringing together stakeholders to support the collaboration and dissemination of CHILI science. I will also be involved in supporting analysis of data on air cleaning in schools and the impact on health.
Research Interests:
I am an engineer with a focus on ventilation and indoor air in buildings. A lot of my work has focused on understanding and mitigating transmission of infectious disease in buildings, including COVID-19 where I played a major role in the UK response. I have also worked more broadly on indoor air quality in buildings, with a strong focus on the engineering design of buildings to provide healthy indoor environments.
More information:
Programme Manager
UCL (Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health)
Chili Hub Role: I support the operational delivery and coordination of multidisciplinary research focused on environmental influences on child health. I work across the Hub to coordinate activities, partnerships and communications, helping to deliver research, events and stakeholder engagement.
Research Interests:
Prior to joining CHILI, I worked at the UCL Institute of Health Informatics, where I managed the VIVALDI Study alongside leading strategic communications and engagement. I also held research and project management roles at King’s College London and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. I have a background in psychology and child development, with experience coordinating large-scale research programmes and translating research for a wide range of audiences.
More information:
Email: b.azmi@ucl.ac.uk
