Opportunities
The Centre for Safe Air supports collaborative projects regarding high priority air quality hazards including pollution, smoke, dust and biological particles like pollen. Through targeted funding, the Centre develops the capacity of emerging researchers, and fosters the translation of evidence into policy and practice.
The SPARK Network is a community for PhD students, public health trainees, registrars, and early- to mid-career researchers who are interested in air quality and health. It brings together people working on clean air—indoors and outdoors—through research, policy, practice, and advocacy, across areas like toxicology, epidemiology, animal studies, and translational research.
It’s free to join. Spark members can access subsidised training events, use the CARDAT data platform with expert support, and connect with senior researchers for mentoring and collaboration opportunities.
Join the SPARK Network
2026 seed funding recipients
The Centre for Safe Air is proud to have supported the following seed funding grants for projects in air quality and health:
- Syeda Hira Fatima, Sotiris Vardoulakis from the University of Canberra for their project, ‘Child & youth climate-safe air and heat intervention, communication and navigation framework for schools’
- Jingyi Shao and Sotiris Vardoulakis from the University of Canberra for their project, ‘Co-designing a realist evaluation framework for early warning systems in Victoria, Australia’
- Gopika Indu and Sotiris Vardoulakis from the University of Canberra for their project for their project, ‘Health and Heat on the Move: Evaluating Air Pollution Exposure and Thermal Comfort Across Sydney’s Commute Modes’
- Tim Chaston and Sotiris Vardoulakis from the University of Canberra for their project, ‘Socioeconomic disparities of on road exposures to traffic related air pollution in Australian cities’
- Pattheera (Paire) Somboonsin and Sotiris Vardoulakis from the University of Canberra for their project, ‘Cause-Specific Loss of Life Expectancy from PM2.5 in Australia: A Public Health, Socio-Economic, and Regional Assessment’
- Penelope Jones, Fay Johnston, Graeme Zosky, Sotiris Vardoulakis et al. – Let’s talk about air: participatory action research to build capacity in air quality and health.
- Sotiris Vardoulakis, Amanda Wheeler, Fay Johnston et al. – An evaluation of public buildings as safe air shelters during smoke episodes.
- Shandy Li, Yuming Guo et al. – Projecting global future bushfire-related air pollution using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
- Christine Cowie, Guy Marks, Amanda Wheeler et al. – Characterising differences in urban black carbon and ultrafine particles to inform urban policy making.
- Nur Sabrina Idrose, Shyamali Dharmage et al. -Do aeroallergen-induced adverse cardio-respiratory outcomes (heart rate, blood pressure, hs-troponin, lung function) become worse in those with a history of COVID-19 infection or long COVID?
Centre for Safe Air postdoctoral fellows – 2026
Dr Tingting Ye is an environmental epidemiologist based at Monash University. Her research focuses on the health impacts of bushfire smoke, air pollution, heat, and other climate-related environmental exposures. Through the Centre for Safe Air Postdoctoral Fellowship, she will develop a national framework to reconstruct historical bushfire-smoke PM2.5 exposure across Australia. This project will generate a research-ready dataset to support future health studies, climate adaptation, and safer-air policy. Tingting’s work combines exposure modelling, remote sensing, geospatial data integration, and environmental epidemiology, with the aim of strengthening evidence on long-term smoke exposure and health risk
Past Alumni
Dr Mahsan Sadeghi is a Research Scientist in Energy Research Unit. She joined Australia’s national science agency in 2021, when she was awarded a CSIRO Early Research Career (CERC) fellowship. Mahsan also carries the title of Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the university of Sydney's School of Architecture, Design, and Planning. Dr Sadeghi’s research focuses on building overheating and occupant thermal comfort. Overheating in residential buildings is becoming an increasingly common problem in Australia; during the summer months temperatures can soar to dangerous levels in people’s homes. This can lead to discomfort, health problems, and in extreme events it can contribute to mortality. Dr Sadeghi is currently co-leading Australia's national project on residential overheating, aiming to inform a climate sensitive model for a future Australian overheating standard.
With a background in architecture, Dr. Sadeghi earned her Ph.D. from The University of Sydney's School of Architecture, Design, and Planning. Her doctoral thesis focused on improving occupant thermal comfort through advanced ventilation systems in Australian residential contexts. Prior to her role at CSIRO, Dr. Sadeghi benefited from a fellowship with the Centre of Air pollution, energy, and health Research (CAR). Her interdisciplinary project explored the intersection of healthy built environments, emphasizing greening infrastructures and their impacts on urban overheating, energy demand, and associated health benefits. Dr. Sadeghi's journey from architecture to health research has been greatly enriched by her time with CAR. Through this fellowship, she expanded her knowledge into the health discipline and forged valuable connections within the health domain. This experience has been instrumental in her career progression, enabling her to make contributions to addressing pressing issues in residential overheating and occupant well-being.
Roles: Senior Research Scientist Environment
"I got a seed grant and a postdoctoral fellowship from CAR, which are the first research grants in my career. CAR also offered me a great opportunity to get involved in subcommittees, organize and chair seminar sessions, which helps build up my leadership skills. In addition, I was awarded conference and training grants to attend international conferences and broaden my collaboration network. CAR had a very effective mentoring program, and its investigators are excellent mentors. CAR’s annual meetings were also great events for ECRs to learn from more senior team members. Overall, CAR support is a stepping stone for my career development."
Biography
Dinh is a Research Fellow in Epidemiology of Lung Health Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne.
Roles: Senior Research Scientist Environment
"Joining CAR has been transformative for my career. The invaluable resources, cutting-edge research opportunities, and supportive network have propelled my professional growth significantly, leading to both of my NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellowship (EL2) and Early Career Fellowship."
Biography
Professor Shanshan (Shandy) Li works at School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University. She is Deputy Head of the Climate, Air Quality Research Unit and Group Leader of Children’s Environmental Health Research, leading an interdisciplinary research team on human health in the context of global environmental change.
Roles: Senior Research Scientist Environment
"Support from CAR, both financially and technically, has helped me in my career progression through numerous ways. One way is through networking among prominent Australian researchers, both inside and outside of CAR. Another way is generating new ideas for research lines, that are of importance politically; in my case, the health impacts of waste-to-energy processes that are of growing importance in Australia and worldwide, for which I produced a position paper, a systematic literature review, a submission to a state waste management strategy review, and an article in The Conversation."
Biography
Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen; Policy Consultant, World Health Organization; Social Media Editor, Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.
Roles: Senior Research Scientist Environment
"I began my environmental epi research career journey with as a PhD student with CAR in 2013-2017. My research training and knowledge translation was enabled and enhanced by connecting and working with the CAR collaborators and their students and post-docs. I have been able to contribute to multiple facets beyond my own research projects including contributing to sub-committee activities, organising and presenting at seminars and conferences, writing and reviewing grant applications, providing mentoring, and writing submissions to government enquiries, to name but a few activities and achievements. The support, training, and experiences provided by CAR have enabled me to hold postdoctoral research fellow positions and be awarded with competitive research funding. CAR was instrumental in supporting and shaping my research career and I have found life-long friends, colleagues and mentors who I value most highly. "
Biography
Rachel Tham is a Research Fellow in the Department of Medicine and the Allergy and Lung Health Unit in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. She is a NHMRC CRE Centre for Safe Air Postdoctoral Research Fellow, an Honorary at The Royal Melbourne Hospital, and a Clinical Educator (Dentistry) at La Trobe University
Rachel Tham is a research fellow at the Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne
Roles: Senior Research Scientist Environment
Yuming Guo is Professor of Global Environmental Health and Biostatistics & Head of the Monash Climate, Air Quality Research (CARE) Unit.
Roles: Senior Research Scientist Environment
Luke Knibbs is an Associate Professor, Epidemiology and Public Health Data Science, at the School of Public Health and Director, Public Health Research Analytics and Methods for Evidence (PHRAME), at Sydney Local Health District (SLHD).
Roles: Senior Research Scientist Environment
Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Climate Change and Health Impact Assessment and Senior Lecturer in Climate Change and Health, School of Population Health, Curtin University
Roles: Senior Research Scientist Environment
Jenny is a physician-trained Respiratory and Sleep epidemiologist at the Allergy and Lung Health Unit (ALHU), Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The University of Melbourne.
Roles: Senior Research Scientist Environment
Christine Cowie is an environmental epidemiologist and Senior Research Fellow with the UNSW South West Sydney Clinical School and the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research (WIMR).
Roles: Senior Research Scientist Environment
Alternative career pathways in science
Our alumni showcase the diverse pathways a career in science can take you. Have a look below by selecting on the following tag career pathways.