Milton Gives M-CERSI Lecture on Airborne Viral Infections

Earlier this month, University of Maryland (UMD) Professor of Environmental Health Don Milton, M.D., Dr.P.H., presented a UMD Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (M-CERSI) lecture on viral infections and non-pharmaceutical interventions. His presentation, which centered on achieving resilience in the era of COVID-19.

Multiple lines of evidence point to inhalation of viral aerosols as a major driver of the COVID-19 pandemic, rekindling interest in understanding airborne transmission of respiratory infections. Milton's talk reviewed the aerobiological pathway of infection transmission focusing on SARS-CoV-2 and influenza. Milton discussed aerosol generation and deposition in the human respiratory tract and the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions, as well as key knowledge gaps and research needs.

In addition to his appointment in the UMD School of Public Health, Milton holds a secondary appointment in the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine. An internationally recognized expert on the aerobiology of respiratory viruses, Milton developed the concept of using indoor CO₂ to directly measure rebreathed air and airborne infection risk. He is the principal investigator of the UMD StopCOVID study (investigating SARS-CoV-2 transmission) and of the newly NIH-funded Evaluating Modes of Influenza Transmission (EMIT-2) study, a five-year $15 million UMD-UMB collaboration to perform randomized controlled trials that will define the modes and mechanisms of influenza transmission.

Milton graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County with a B.A. in chemistry in 1976 and obtained his doctor of medicine from Johns Hopkins University in 1980. He went on to obtain his master of ocupational health and doctor of public health from the Harvard School of Public Health in 1985 and 1989, respectively.

View Milton's M-CERSI lecture online.

Published June 23, 2022