BREATHE research teams kick off efforts to enhance indoor air quality to improve health

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BREATHE research teams kick off efforts to enhance indoor air quality to improve health, advance the future of smart buildings

Teams will seek to develop systems that reduce harmful pathogens and allergens in buildings across the country, ensuring indoor air quality is always safe and healthy 

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), today announced the research and development teams receiving awards from the Building Resilient Environments for Air and Total Health (BREATHE) program. BREATHE intends to advance the next generation of smart and healthy buildings by developing integrated systems that will provide continual measurement and risk assessment of indoor air quality and deploy real-time interventions, like extra ventilation or disinfection, to reduce airborne threats to human health.

Poor indoor air quality exacerbates chronic diseases like asthma and allergies and is a leading cause of preventable respiratory illnesses like the flu. Airborne pathogens and allergens can have a significant effect on people’s health, especially children, the elderly, and those living with chronic illnesses. Even though Americans spend 90% of their lives indoors, we do more to monitor and reduce outdoor air threats than those inside our homes, schools, and workplaces. Rather than only treating illness after it occurs, BREATHE aims to create healthier indoor environments that prevent disease, improve productivity, and enhance quality of life for everyone.

“BREATHE will revolutionize public health by greatly advancing our ability to detect and address indoor air quality threats like never before,” said Jason Roos, Ph.D., ARPA-H Acting Director. “ARPA-H’s investment has the potential to bring about the next-generation of smart buildings, making sure indoor air is always clean and healthy.”

The agency’s initial total commitment to these teams is up to $156 million over 5 years, to establish this groundbreaking approach. Other Transactions Agreements (not procurement contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements) vary in funding amount per awardee and are contingent upon each team meeting aggressive and accelerated milestones.  

“Today, most buildings can’t see what’s in their air, allowing harmful allergens and pathogens to circulate unnoticed,” said BREATHE Program Manager Jessica Green, Ph.D. “BREATHE innovators are closing the gap, so buildings actively protect occupants instead of amplifying risk.” 

BREATHE’s performer teams are led by:  

  • Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota, is developing a biosensor based on microfluidic droplet CRISPR technology. The team will apply cutting-edge technologies like agent-based models and digital twin models to assess the risk of people getting sick indoors. The team will demonstrate their technology in Mayo Clinic emergency departments in Minnesota, Arizona, and Florida.
  • Poppy Health, Inc., in Winter Park, FL, is developing an amplification-free genetic sensor that sends a tiny electrical signal when it recognizes a target microbe in the air, so buildings can respond accordingly.  The team will demonstrate their technology in 60 schools that span the United States to protect children and staff from getting sick indoors.
  • SafeTraces, Inc, in Pleasanton, CA, is developing a novel microarray qPCR biosensor, which utilizes a unique positional printing method to detect a broad spectrum of microbes. The team will develop software that triggers a new operating mode for buildings when risk levels are high, including deploying their technology in Defense Health Administration Medical Centers to protect vulnerable patients from airborne illnesses.
  • Virginia Tech, is developing a new biosensor that enables real-time, ultrasensitive detection of specific pathogens and allergens using nanobody-based technology. The project will also deliver software that translates data from the biosensor, building, community, and environment to respiratory risk, and tools to optimize proven interventions that reduce bioaerosol concentrations and maintain healthy conditions. The team will demonstrate their technology across multiple daycare centers.

For more information on BREATHE, visit the program page.