This question is being answered by a transdisciplinary team of researchers from engineering, nursing, medicine, and biological sciences. While the past year has been unusual, even in “normal times” most human beings spend between 70% – 90% of their day inside built environments, t
hus making their homes, offices/workplaces, and schools the most common source of environmental exposures to allergens, dust, viruses, bacteria and molds. Because of their smaller physical size and less mature pulmonary systems, young children are particularly vulnerable to pollution in the air they breathe: This vulnerability is worse for children who have asthma. Drs. Kerry Kinney and Juan Pedro Maestre (Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering) have developed a novel means for measuring indoor air pollutants by using filters placed in central heat and air conditioning (AC) systems to collect samples from indoor air – a technique they call “Filter Forensics.” With funding from the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), and collaborating with Dr. Sharon Horner (Nursing) long-time researcher of childhood asthma, they tested this ‘filter forensics’ approach in a rural central Texas community in the homes of families who have school-aged children: Half of the families had a child with asthma and half did not. The researchers found differences in the AC filter samples taken from homes of children who had asthma when compared to those who did not have asthma. In general, the microorganisms recovered from the AC filters in the homes of children without asthma were consistent with other studies that have started to identify protective biological exposures, whereas the AC filters in homes of children with asthma yielded more biological factors that are known to trigger or stimulate asthma symptoms.
Drs. Kinney, Maestre, Horner have expanded this work through a second HUD grant and are working with Drs. Matsui (Medicine), Rivera-Mariani (Biomedical Sciences), and Thomaz (Electrical & Computer Engineering) to expand this approach across Texas cities. Starting in Austin in the first year, they tested their remote data collection procedures that they will use in homes across Texas. Notably, this work occurred in the year before the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of the current Healthy Homes-Texas study is to evaluate the relationships between environmental contaminants in AC filter dust, home characteristics (type of flooring, cleaning practices, home ventilation practices), and asthma severity and asthma control factors in school-aged children. Understanding the microorganisms and chemicals present in homes is an essential step toward understanding the effects these exposures have on the prevalence and severity of asthma and allergy in children. The Healthy Homes-Texas study is currently recruiting for its second phase and looking for 100 families with school-aged children who have asthma and a comparison group of children who do not have asthma.
If you know someone who would be interested in participating in this study, contact the team through their webpage by clicking the following button:
Authors:
Kerry Kinney, Ph.D., holds the L.P. Gilvin Centennial Professorship in Civil Engineering in The 
University of Texas at Austin Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering and is a courtesy professor in the Department of Population Health. Dr. Kinney’s cross-disciplinary research in environmental engineering and molecular biology centers on the investigation of microorganisms and contaminants in engineered systems including buildings, residential water systems and municipal wastewater systems.
For more information on Dr. Kinney press the following button:
Juan Pedro Maestre, Ph.D., is a research associate and lecturer in Environmental Engineering and Microbiology at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Maestre specialized in microbiology of the Built Environment, COVID19, and Indoor Air Quality, using molecular biology tools and low-cost sensors for solving problems in natural and human-made systems.
For more information on Dr. Maestre press the following button:
Sharon Horner, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, is a professor and researcher in School of Nursing at The University of Texas at Austin and holds the Dolores V. Sands Chair in Nursing Research and is a Fellow in the American Academy of 
Nursing. Dr. Horner’s research is focused on improving health of families with children.
For more information on Dr. Maestre press the following button:
We are recruiting our next cohort of fellows. We will invite two new fellows to join our training program that will begin Fall semester 2021. We invited 1st year (incoming students) and 2nd year students to join Dr. Kim and fellow co-investigators on March 5th to learn more about the Precision Health T32 Training program. You can find the recorded session and application process here: 
Welcome to the first edition of our newly formatted HER newsletter. The shared goal of our center and our many community partnerships is to enhance widespread community immunity. We approach this goal by first listening to the community and identifying their health needs. We then work together to build on this knowledge to both enhance and provide quality care, while at the same time empowering individuals to better manage aspects of their health that are within their control.
Keeping the Faith, Pastor Daryl Horton of Mt. Zion
A: In moments of challenge and crisis, I believe that faith can provide a sense of peace, comfort, and calm—it can help people feel less vulnerable in situations where they feel they have little control. It offers an opportunity to embrace the idea that there is a greater being who is watching and aware—even if the world does not seem invested in righteousness and social justice, there is always a presence who is.
workers who have been under a tremendous amount of stress in the past weeks and months—understandably, as they support the health of the community. AMEN has provided them a safe place of release, where they can safely express what they’re experiencing and feeling, where others understand what they’re going through and are willing to listen. We have a faith community to serve our congregants’ spiritual needs, and the School of Nursing has provided programs for physical health. The AMEN project is the piece that allows us to serve the whole person—physically, mentally, and spiritually. For a community, the church is a very sacred place; inviting people in who are not a part of it gives both groups the opportunity to appreciate the others’ perspective, and to foster a sense of mutual trust.
Poor social support during pregnancy and early motherhood is a risk factor for postpartum depression. Mama Sana Vibrant Woman (MSVW), a community organization that facilitates access to quality and culturally appropriate prenatal and postnatal care for women of color in Austin and Travis County teamed up with HER to provide maternal justice programming, and is now heeding the call with programs that provide virtual kinship and conversation during COVID and beyond. During this time of physical distancing, the program is providing Virtual Prenatal and Post-Partum Circles in both English and Spanish. In 2016 HER and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation joined forces to create HER’s Community Health Worker Institute. The institute focuses on workforce research to explore the impact and needs of these health care heroes, which will inform trainings across the state that include the latest evidence-based practice and technology.