Research Interests:

My research aims are based on the use of previous experience in environmental health, environmental science and environmental monitoring technologies in studies on environmental influences on health.  Current interests include: environmental epidemiology; exposure assessment/characterisation; risk-based assessment of environmental influences on health; and the interface between environmental health and environmental engineering.

Recent research has been focused on the provision of more accurate and extensive exposure estimates in environmental epidemiology studies of the health effects of air pollution in urban areas.  Specific research projects include the estimation of concentrations of traffic-related air pollutants; and epidemiological analyses of the contrasting effects of short, intermediate and long-term exposure to air pollutants on the population of Scotland.

Funding has been obtained for research on air pollution and human health from NERC, Department of Health, MRC, the Colt Foundation and the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland.  Through these and other research grants a network of active collaboration has been established with the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Educational Aims & Objectives:

I am involved in the original design, development and delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate classes, with particular attention to the following generic areas:

• Risk-based approach to environmental influences on health
• Application of population-based epidemiological study to assess risks from environmental influences on health
• Environmental pollution exposure assessment

My design philosophy has been based on a refocusing of contemporary environmental health and environmental engineering education on public health science, environmental epidemiology and environmental pollution exposure assessment.