Senior Research Scientist Environment

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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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