HEI welcomes new staff scientists

Palak Balyan, an HEI consulting staff scientist based in Delhi, India, works in HEI’s Global Health program. She received her PhD from the University of Delhi, where she worked on measurement of bioaerosols and their impact on human health. Before joining HEI she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at Indian Institute of Technology–Delhi, where she worked on a number of topics including application of satellite data/remote sensing in air quality monitoring, calibration and deployment of low-cost sensors, and exposure assessment. She has a special interest in researching the health effects of air pollution. Balyan is deeply connected with several of HEI’s key Indian collaborators. 

Staff Scientist Yi Lu, an environmental epidemiologist, received a PhD in Environmental Health Sciences from the University at Albany School of Public Health, where she applied new methodologies to assess the impact of school environments on children’s health and performance. Lu has worked on projects across geographies, including the United States, China, Romania, and Pakistan, focusing on assessment of health impacts related to exposure to environmental pollutants. She comes to HEI with broad-ranging technical, project management, and communication skills. As a postdoctoral fellow at Boston University, Lu analyzed alcohol-related harms among different populations. She also has a Bachelor of Medicine degree in preventive medicine from the Southern Medical University in Guangzhou. At HEI, Lu will contribute to the Global Health program and HEI-funded research on air pollution and health in Asia and Africa.