Dr. Balkrishnan speaks to the research group in Nepal.
Dr Rajesh Balkrishnan, Professor of Public Health Sciences, recently visited Nepal to jumpstart research related to reducing the effects of air pollution on environmental health in Nepal. He was accompanied by Ankit Dakhal, PhD student at UVA Chemical Engineering. This collaborative research began at UVA through support from the Environmental Resilience Institute, which brings together researchers from UVA Engineering (Dr. Gaurav Giri), Public Policy (Dr. Bala Mulloth), and Medicine to address issues of air pollution in low to middle income countries and their impact on population health. Recently this team received NIH funding to develop air filtration technology into useable fabric materials and incorporate it into daily life to reduce the impact of air pollution and air borne pathogens. During this visit, there were meetings and talks with researchers working at Kathmandu University School of Medicine as well as Resource Himalaya Foundation – a nongovernmental multi-institutional organization focused on environmental protection in Nepal.
Dr. Rajesh Balkrishnan (2nd from left) traveled to Nepal with members of the UVA research team: Ankit Dakhal, UVA PhD student in chemical engineering; Dr. Gaurav Giri, UVA Engineering; and Dr. Bala Mulloth, UVA Public Policy.
UVA researchers met with representatives from Kathmandu University School of Medicine as well as Resource Himalaya Foundation, a non-governmental organization focused on environmental protection in Nepal.