Liora Malki-Epshtein

Liora Malki-Epshtein is an Associate Professor of Urban Fluid Mechanics and Air Quality at University College London. She obtained her BSc and MSc in Geophysics, Atmospheric and Planetary Physics and did her PhD on double-diffusive convection in the Oceans at DAMPT, University of Cambridge, before joining the department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering and UCL.

Dr Malki-Epshtein applies physics-based approaches to projects in research and higher education that try to address some of the urgent threats of air pollution and infectious disease transmission, natural and environmental hazards. She co-founded and co-directed the UCL-RAEng Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Building Design (CofE SBD), and the UCL MEng Engineering and Architectural Design (MEAD), a multi-disciplinary programme focused on creativity and engineering in the built environment.

Since the Covid pandemic she has been involved with several projects aiming to improve the environment to reduce transmission of Covid. She has carried out studies in protection of key workers such as municipal waste collection crews from transmission in vehicles for Veolia, and a study of protection for TfL bus drivers from Covid-19, for which the team was awarded the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) Healthy transport award. She leads the air quality study on project VIRAL on Covid transmission on public transport. She is task leader for the field studies work package on AIRBODs, which led  since April 2021 the environmental study in the UK Government’s Covid-19 Events Research Programme. This study helped to build the evidence base on air quality at a wide range of venues and events and improved understanding of potential risks of airborne transmission at events, and their mitigations. The study enabled the UK to re-open events in culture, music and sports industries whilst improving safety at these events.