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The Environmental Research Group (ERG) at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ and the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University have launched a new two-year strategic partnership focused on environmental health research in arid urban environments.

The partnership was formally inaugurated on 9 February at Imperial’s White City Campus in London, bringing together representatives from both institutions to mark the start of a joint research programme designed to generate high-quality scientific evidence to inform environmental health policy and management in Qatar, the United Kingdom, and other regions facing similar environmental challenges.

The initial two-year framework establishes a platform for long-term collaboration through joint funding applications, shared research initiatives, and sustained knowledge exchange, reinforcing both institutions’ commitment to delivering research with tangible societal impact.

Addressing Environmental Health Challenges in Arid Urban Regions

Rapid urbanisation in hot and arid regions presents a complex combination of natural and human-made environmental exposures. The ERG–QEERI partnership will focus on three priority research areas:

1. Air pollution exposure assessment across the indoor–outdoor continuum, developing improved methodologies to better understand personal and population exposure patterns in hot urban environments.
2. Oxidative potential and toxicology of natural dust and pollutant mixtures, examining how desert dust interacts with anthropogenic emissions and the resulting implications for human health.
3. Microplastics in air and water, investigating the occurrence, transport, and potential health effects of emerging contaminants in hot, dry climates, with a particular focus on Qatar.

The programme combines ERG’s internationally recognised expertise in exposure science, air pollution epidemiology and toxicology, and environmental health with QEERI’s strengths in air quality science, source attribution, atmospheric chemistry, and environmental health. Together, the partnership aims to deliver policy-relevant research with measurable public health benefits.

Strengthening International Collaboration

For QEERI, the initiative supports Qatar’s national priorities around environmental resilience, sustainability, and public health, while strengthening the country’s growing role in international environmental research.

Dr Tareq Al-Ansari, Executive Director of QEERI, said: “This partnership reflects QEERI’s commitment to addressing pressing environmental challenges through strategic international collaboration. Working with Imperial’s Environmental Research Group strengthens our ability to deliver high-impact science that supports sustainable development and environmental health resilience in Qatar and beyond.”

For ERG, which is based within Imperial’s School of Public Health, the collaboration further expands its global environmental health research portfolio and supports its commitment to interdisciplinary research addressing sustainability and human health.

Professor Frank Kelly, Battcock Chair in Community Health and Policy and Director of ERG, said: “This partnership with QEERI represents an important step forward in advancing collaborative environmental health research in regions where natural and anthropogenic exposures intersect in complex ways. By combining our complementary expertise, we will generate high-quality evidence that can directly inform policy and improve population health outcomes in both Qatar and the UK.”

The partnership agreement was formally signed by Professor Frank Kelly and Dr Tareq Al-Ansari at ERG’s offices in the Michael Uren Hub at Imperial’s White City Campus.