Skandan Ananthasekary

Projects

Research Direction: Indoor air quality, healthy buildings, built environment

Indoor air quality international landscape: We have developed a preliminary database of indoor air quality policies from 40 countries around the world and case studies of leading country actions to advance healthy indoor air. We would like to develop more in-depth case studies and expand/validate our database.

Cost-benefit analysis/Return on Investment: Produce a clear policy-style memo showing the return on investment for making indoor air quality improvements (upgrading filters, installing air purifiers, etc) grounded in quantitative research.

Indoor air implementation roadmap: There is not a good implementation toolkit that countries can adopt if they are looking to integrate transmission suppression technologies into the built environment. Develop an implementation roadmap that countries can use grounded in model policies, deployment guidance, and case studies.

What I'm looking for in a Mentee

You should be excited to work on indoor air quality, have good time management skills, and be able write clearly. I am open to mentees from a wide range of backgrounds.

What I’m like as a Mentor

Ideally, meet twice a week to review progress. Mentees should come to meetings with their own agenda of what they would like to discuss and should have shared any work prior to the meeting for my review. I prefer clear and frequent communication on any blockers that I can help overcome.

Bio

Skandan Ananthasekar is a fellow at the Brown University Pandemic Center working at the intersection of indoor air quality, healthy buildings, and health security. Previously, Skandan was a Science Policy Fellow at the Science and Technology Policy Institute where he worked on a wide variety of biosecurity issues, including the intersection of biotechnology and artificial intelligence, indoor air quality, One Health, and bioelectronics.