Leeds Aerobiological Engineering Group

The Aerobiological Engineering group at the University of Leeds is a multidisciplinary team with research interests in:

Tuberculosis control Control of hospital acquired infection Ultraviolet (UV) radiation air disinfection Negative air ionisation Kinetics of micro organisms Indoor air quality Ventilation technology

The multi-discipline approach brings together investigators from a variety of backgrounds including public health engineering, fluid mechanics, building services engineering and microbiology. This has produced a team with the all-round strengths required to undertake rigorous research in the field of aerobiology and indoor air quality.

The group is bases in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds. This Schoolrecieved a rating of 5 (the highest) in the 2001 UK Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The School has an outstanding international reputation in Public Health Engineering and established researchers in Building Services Engineering.

The use of small negative air ions to disinfect MRSA and other airborne pathogens in UK hospital buildings (clinical pilot study)

Sponsors: NHS Estates.
Investigators: Dr CB Beggs, Dr KG Kerr, Dr JK Donnelly, Dr PA Sleigh, and Prof. DD Mara.
Duration: 18 months. Start: March 2000. Value: £101k

The project is a clinical pilot study which investigates the use of small negative air ions to disinfect airborne microbial pathogens in a hospital ward space. The project involves placing air ionisers within an intensive care ward, which has a history of nosocomial infection, and measuring the impact on both the bioburden and subsequent infection rates.

UV disinfection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other airborne pathogens in hospital buildings

Sponsors: EPSRC.
Investigators: Dr CB Beggs, Dr KG Kerr, Dr JK Donnelly, Dr PA Sleigh, and Prof. DD Mara.
Duration: 36 months. Start: May 2000. Value: £219k.

The project follows on from the initial clinical pilot study sponsored by NHS Estates. It investigates in detail the aerobiology associated with the transmission of tuberculosis and other infections in hospital buildings. In particular, the project studies the photobiology associated with ultraviolet germicidal irradiation and seeks to optimise the air disinfection capability of ultraviolet germicidal lamps through experimental work and CFD analysis.

The monitoring of UK desiccant cooling systems and optimisation of solar desiccant cooling technology

Sponsors: DETR in collaboration with GAIA Research.
Investigators: Dr CB Beggs, Dr PA Sleigh, S Halliday (GAIA Research).

This project involves the monitoring and analysis of two public buildings in the UK which utilise a desiccant cooling system and the development of computer based models to evaluate the performance of, and optimise, a desiccant cooling system coupled to solar panels.

The ultraviolet germicidal irradiation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other airborne pathogens in hospital buildings

Sponsors: NHS Estates in collaboration with Hanovia Ltd and BARO UK Ltd.
Investigators: Dr CB Beggs, Dr KG Kerr, Dr JK Donnelly, Dr PA Sleigh, and Prof. DD Mara.
Duration: 18 months. Start: December 98. Value: £83k.

The project is a clinical pilot study which investigates the air disinfection effectiveness of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation lamps placed in a hospital ward space. It is the initial project in a programme of research which will investigate the use of engineering technologies to control airborne pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureaus (MRSA).

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Dr. CB Beggs is Lecturer in Building Services Engineering in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds. He is a member of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), and has many years experience of the design and installation of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. He has a broad range of research interests which cover such diverse fields as low energy building design, thermal energy storage and the health and performance of building occupants. Dr Beggs has particular expertise in ventilation, aerobiology and infectious disease control. He manages a number of research contracts for the NHS and EPSRC in this field. He has written many papers on these subjects.

Dr. JK Donnelly is Senior Lecturer in Food Studies and Health at Trinity and All Saints College of the University of Leeds, and honorary Research Fellow in Public Health Engineering in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Health, and has undertaken considerable research into the removal of Cryptosporidium from potable water supplies. She currently holds a £137,000 research contract from the MRC/Department of Health, investigating the provision of nutrition information for consumers.

Dr. KG Kerr is Senior Lecturer in Medical Microbiology in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Leeds, and is Honorary Consultant in Medical Microbiology and Director of the Diagnostic Laboratory for the Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust. He has authored and co-authored many papers on both food science and medical microbiology. He currently holds a £101,000 research contract from the Department of Health, investigating the pathogenesis of verocytotoxigenic E. coli sepsis.

Dr. PA Sleigh is Lecturer in Fluid Mechanics in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds. He has 9 years post doctoral research experience in the numerical modelling of fluid flows, and has authored and co-authored a number of papers in this field. He has considerable experience of a variety of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) packages and is an active member of the EPSRC Computation Fluid Dynamics Club and the International Association for Hydraulic Research (IAHR).

Prof. DD Mara is Professor of Civil and Public Health Engineering in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds. He is both a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (FICE) and a Fellow of the Institute of Biology (FIBiol). He has over 20 years research experience in the fields of water engineering and tropical microbiology, and has authored and co-authored many papers and books on these subjects. He is a member of a number of international research committees, including, WHO/UNCHS/FAO panel of experts on environmental management of vector control, and the United Nations Collaborative Council for Water Supply and Sanitation.

The School of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds has a world-wide reputation in public health engineering research, and has excellent laboratory facilities for micro biological analysis. The School also has a track record of research both in building services engineering and CFD analysis, and has received NHS funding to investigate air flow in hospital operating theatres.

TheDepartment of Microbiology at the University of Leeds has extensive experience in the field of mycobacteriological research, both basic and applied, and has recently been awarded a £73 000 research grant from the Welcome Foundation to investigate the molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis. In addition, the Leeds Molecular Mycobacteriology Unit is a subsidiary of the Microbiology Laboratory of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, of which Dr Kerr is Head and is housed in the same building as the Department of Mycobacteriology.