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Global Research

HEI supports research across the globe, often with supplemental financial support from foundations and international organizations. Although the majority of HEI's studies have been in North America, important additional scientific insights have been provided by a growing number of new studies in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.

transportation in a city in Europe

HEI has attracted significant additional support for its international work from foundations, international organizations, the European Union and industry.  In Europe, for example, HEI worked in partnership with WHO on Air Quality Guidelines, and with the European Union on multi-investigator studies of air pollution and health in North America and Europe (APHENA). In Asia, with added support from domestic and international foundations, HEI implemented the Public Health and Air Pollution In Asia (PAPA) program (see several research reports and a comprehensive review comprehensive review of the Asian literature on air pollution and health). We have also conducted the first major multi-country, multi-investigator studies in Latin America (ESCALA). Additional studies in countries outside the US are funded through our competitive research selection process.

Ongoing Studies

Traffic-related air pollution and birth weight: the roles of noise, placental function, green space, physical activity, and socioeconomic status (FRONTIER)

Payam Dadvand
,

ISGlobal, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Spain

Jordi Sunyer
,

ISGlobal, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Spain

In this study, the investigators will recruit pregnant women in Barcelona and assess the effects of in-utero exposure to traffic-related pollution on birth weight, fetal growth trajectories, and placental function for each pregnancy. The investigators will estimate exposure to several pollutants and transportation noise and evaluate the roles of socioeconomic status, green space, physical activity, diet, and stress.

Comparison of Long-term Air Pollution Exposure assessment based on mobile monitoring, low-cost sensors, dispersion modelling and routine monitoring-based models (CLAIRE)

Gerard Hoek
,

Utrecht University, Netherlands

Hoek and colleagues will prepare maps of modeled annual average air pollution across the Netherlands, validate the maps using new measurements from over 100 sites, and evaluate the performance of several exposure models. The investigators will conduct cross-comparisons to evaluate how different exposure assessment methods compare in their ability to predict long-term pollutant concentrations, with a particular focus on spatial variability of pollutants.

How do household energy interventions work?

Sam Harper
,

McGill University, Canada

Jill C Baumgartner
,

McGill University, Canada

This study will focus on a coal ban and heat pump subsidy program in the Beijing, China, region. They are building on an existing panel study that is following about 966 people who live in 50 villages around Beijing. Half the villages are subject to the policy, the other half are not.

Accounting for the health benefits of air pollution regulations in China, 2008–2020

Patrick L Kinney
,

Boston University

This study will evaluate the major national regulatory policies that were implemented in China from 2008–2018. The investigators will focus on regulations in particular regions that target specific sources, such as coal combustion, and how they have reduced ambient concentrations of fine particles (and their components).