Broadly, we focus on the impacts of energy use - typically at the household level -- on air pollution, climate, and health. While progress on providing clean household energy arguably follows development trajectories, there is need to accelerate the transition to clean cooking through innovative policy and dissemination approaches. Our research group builds the evidence base for these transitions -- based on health, environmental, and economic benefits -- using the multidisciplinary field of Environmental Health Sciences, which sits at the interface of laboratory science, aerosol chemistry, environmental engineering, and implementation science, as the foundation of our work. Our work falls into some broad thematic areas, discussed below.
We engage in policy-oriented experiments to help justify continued investment in clean household energy. These range from cost-effectiveness analyses to behavior change campaigns to pragmatic, scalable policies targeting the most vulnerable populations.
Interventions to decrease household air pollution exposures have a long history, ranging from so-called ‘improved’ biomass stoves that burn available fuels cleanly to clean fuels, like liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol, to electricity. Our group works on evaluating interventions from cost, environmental, climate, and health perspectives.
Our group makes measurements to estimate exposure and, in doing so, inform policies, evaluate interventions, and help provide evidence of potential health risk. Where instrumentation is lacking, we develop our own or adapt technologies used in other sectors and disciplines.
Household air pollution contributes substantially to ambient air pollution. Estimates of this contribution range between 20 and 45% globally, with large spatial heterogeneity. Reducing household air pollution from solid fuel use thus has benefits across scales — it benefits people in homes who rely on these fuels, but also provides benefits to communities and airsheds by reducing ambient air pollution levels.
Ye, W., Campbell, D., Johnson, M., Balakrishnan, K., Peel, J. L., Steenland, K., Underhill, L. J., Rosa, G., Kirby, M. A., Díaz-Artiga, A., McCracken, J., Thompson, L. M., Clark, M. L., Waller, L. A., Chang, H. H., Wang, J., Dusabimana, E., Ndagijimana, F., Sambandam, S., … Pillarisetti, A. (2024). Exposure Contrasts of Women Aged 40–79 Years during the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network Randomized Controlled Trial. In Environmental Science & Technology (Vol. 59, Issue 1, pp. 69–81). American Chemical Society (ACS). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c06337
The Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) Trial is an international multi-center study aimed at assessing the impact of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cooking stove and fuel intervention on health. HAPIN Trial centers are located in four countries: Guatemala, India, Peru and Rwanda.
The HAPIN Trial was launched in 2017 with formative research. Main trial enrollment started in 2018 and follow-up of participants ended in September 2021. More than 7,200 study participants were enrolled and will help the HAPIN Trial find answers to questions about LPG cookstoves and health. Currently the investigators are analyzing data for the primary outcomes: low birth weight, severe pneumonia incidence, and stunting in the child, and blood pressure in the older adult woman. Secondary outcomes include preterm birth and child development in the child, maternal blood pressure during pregnancy, and endothelial function, respiratory impairment, atherosclerosis, carcinogenic metabolites, and quality of life in the older adult woman. The team has been publishing manuscripts throughout project implementation.
The trial is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Participating NIH components are the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the National Cancer Institute, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the NIH Common Fund of the NIH Office of the Director, and the Fogarty International Center. NHLBI leads administration of the trial on behalf of the consortium. The Global LPG Partnership provides expert advice. We are thankful for the guidance of our advisory committee: Patrick Brysse, Donna Spiegelman, and Joel Kaufman.
Raheel, H., Sinharoy, S., Diaz-Artiga, A., Garg, S. S., Pillarisetti, A., Balakrishnan, K., Chiang, M., Lovvorn, A., Kirby, M., Ramakrishnan, U., Jabbarzadeh, S., Mukeshimana, A., Johnson, M., McCracken, J. P., Naeher, L. P., Rosa, G., Wang, J., Rosenthal, J., Checkley, W., … Thompson, L. M. (2025). Effects of a liquefied petroleum gas stove and fuel intervention on head circumference and length at birth: A multi-country household air pollution intervention network (HAPIN) trial. In Environment International (Vol. 195, p. 109211). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.109211
Karakwende, P., Checkley, W., Chen, Y., Clark, M. L., Clasen, T., Dusabimana, E., Jabbarzadeh, S., Johnson, M., Kalisa, E., Kirby, M., Naher, L., Ndagijimana, F., Ndikubwimana, A., Ntakirutimana, T., Ntivuguruzwa, J. de D., Peel, J. L., Piedrahita, R., Pillarisetti, A., … Rosa, G. (2025). Predictors of Personal Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter, Black Carbon, and Carbon Monoxide among Pregnant Women in Rwanda: Baseline Data from the HAPIN Trial. In Journal of Health and Pollution (Vol. 13, Issue 1). Environmental Health Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1289/jhp1049
Rajamani, K. D., Sambandam, S., Mukhopadhyay, K., Puttaswamy, N., Thangavel, G., Natesan, D., Ramasamy, R., Sendhil, S., Natarajan, A., Aravindalochan, V., Pillarisetti, A., Johnson, M., Rosenthal, J., Steenland, K., Piedhrahita, R., Peel, J., Clark, M. L., Boyd Barr, D., Rajkumar, S., … Balakrishnan, K. (2022). Visualizing Field Data Collection Procedures of Exposure and Biomarker Assessments for the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network Trial in India. In Journal of Visualized Experiments (Issue 190). MyJove Corporation. https://doi.org/10.3791/64144
Shackelford, B. B., Steenland, K., Kirby, M. A., Balakrishnan, K., Chiang, M., Diaz-Artiga, A., McCracken, J. P., Thompson, L. M., Rosa, G., Waller, L. A., Jabbarzadeh, S., Wang, J., Pillarisetti, A., Johnson, M. A., Peel, J. L., Checkley, W., Clasen, T. F., Aravindalochanan, V., Bankundiye, G., … Younger, A. (2025). Gestational and postnatal exposures to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and their association with acute ear infections, diarrhea, respiratory symptoms, and mortality: A longitudinal study of infants in the multicountry Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) trial. Environmental Research, 285, 122258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2025.122258
Ndikubwimana, A., Young, B. N., Checkley, W., Chen, Y., Clasen, T., Contreras, C. L., Diaz, A. A., Dusabimana, E., de las Fuentes, L., Garg, S. S., Jaacks, L. M., Jabbarzadeh, S., Johnson, M., Kalisa, E., Karakwende, P., Kirby, M., McCracken, J. P., Ndagijimana, F., … Ntakirutimana, T. (2025). Association between Personal Exposure to Household Air Pollution and Glycated Hemoglobin among Women in Rural Areas of Guatemala, India, Peru, and Rwanda: Household Air Pollution Intervention Network Trial. In Journal of Health and Pollution (Vol. 13, Issue 1). Environmental Health Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1289/jhp1053
Pillarisetti, A., Ye, W., Peel, J. L., Chang, H., Underhill, L. J., Balakrishnan, K., Díaz-Artiga, A., McCracken, J. P., Rosa, G., Thompson, L. M., Aravindalochanan, V., Boyd Barr, D., Chen, Y., Chiang, M., Clark, M. L., Davila-Roman, V., Jabbarzadeh, S., Johnson, M. A., Kirby, M. A., … Younger, A. (2025). Household air pollution and blood pressure among adult women participants of the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network Trial: An exposure-response analysis. Environmental Research, 285, 122570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2025.122570
Steenland, K., Pillarisetti, A., Johnson, M., Rosenthal, J., Balakrishnan, K., Underhill, L., Thompson, L., McCracken, J., Waller, L., Nicolaou, L., Clark, M., Checkley, W., Peel, J., & Clasen, T. (2025). Optimizing Exposure Measures in Large-Scale Household Air Pollution Studies: Results from the Multicountry HAPIN Trial. In Environmental Science & Technology (Vol. 59, Issue 3, pp. 1693–1699). American Chemical Society (ACS). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c08052
With Pengbo Liu, PhD, MPH (Co-PI), Christine Moe, Danny Wilson, Ashley Styczynski, Nichole Starr, and N95Decon.
The global supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) – including surgical masks, N95 filtering facepiece respirators, gloves, and gowns – has been limited during the current pandemic. PPE serves as a first line of defense for healthcare workers and can play an important role in helping slow transmission of airborne pathogens like SARS-CoV-2. Our work focuses on two PPE-related aspects of the current pandemic. First, we will survey healthcare workers and facilities globally on their supply of PPE and usage practices. Second, we will evaluate methods of decontaminating cloth, surgical, and N95 masks that may be relevant for low-resource settings. Taken together, our findings can help optimize resource allocation and extend the use of existing supplies of PPE using decontamination methods suitable for low-resource settings.