Dr. Milton of the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland, College Park has been awarded a two-year challenge grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue his research on airborne influenza transmission and prevention. Dr. Milton, one of the newest faculty members at the School is professor and director of the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health. Now that Dr. Milton and his research are moving to Maryland, College Park, his work will be enhanced by a new collaboration with Dr. Daniel Perez, associate professor in the College of Agriculture and department of natural resources.

Together, they will collect, grow and analyze the influenza virus in people’s exhaled breath to learn more about transmission and effective prevention.

“What we’re trying to do is understand more about the biology of the generation of influenza droplets and aerosols from those infected,” Dr. Milton said.

Their findings may shed light on the standard advice that washing hands and using antibacterial hand lotion is effective for preventing influenza transmission.

The research is a continuation of his previous studies, which showed that surgical masks block release of moderate to large airborne droplets containing influenza virus. The challenge grant will facilitate an investigation of the ability of surgical masks to block release of very small droplets. He will also look at the conditions in which people develop aerosols, and whether factors such as age and co-infection affect the development.

Drs. Milton and Perez will bring together unique backgrounds to collaborate for the research. While Dr. Milton specializes in the collection and study of airborne influenza virus, Dr. Perez is an expert on virus culture a. Dr. Milton, also a physician, deals mainly with humans, while Dr. Perez’s studies have focused on animals, mainly ferrets.

The research will begin from an on-campus site, and then it will be extended to the community. The same device from Dr. Milton’s previous study—a funnel-shaped, non-invasive machine affectionately known as the Gesundheit-II —will be used to collect exhaled particles.

The grant money, $968,410 over two years will be used for setting up the collection site, hiring technicians, and possibly a trailer to house the equipment near a health center.

The grant is a part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, issued to the NIH to advance scientific research. NIH aims to award ARRA funding to projects that promise to stimulate the economy, create or retain jobs, and have the potential for making scientific progress in two years, according to the web site, http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/. Currently, 12,792 projects have been funded with ARRA funds through several different programs. The challenge grant (RC1) program received about 20,000 applications (see here) and funded about 850 of them, including the grant awarded to Dr. Milton.

Dr. Donald Milton was named director of MIAEH this fall. He is a professor in the department of epidemiology and biostatistics. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and his MD from Johns Hopkins University. He earned his doctorate in environmental health from Harvard University. He trained in internal medicine at Emory and Boston Universities and occupational and environmental medicine at Harvard. Milton specializes in health effects of bioaerosols, asthma, airborne infection transmission and prevention, and exhaled breath analysis. To learn more about his research, click here.