COURTESY OF JONATHAN REID |
of amillimeter in size that may beused in pharmaceuticals and construction ). He also likes developing instruments that can measure such small amounts ofmatter — “ It ’ safun analytical challenge ,” he says — and how his work brings him in contact with adiverse group of people . “ I work with chemists , engineers , physicists , clinicians and earth scientists scattered across the world ,” hesays . “ It ’ s fun to learn about other disciplines and other cultures through mywork .”
BEFORE 2020 , BZDEK STUDIED AEROSOLS ’ EFFECTONWEATHER . He was interested inlearning how aerosols form in the atmosphere to serve as seeds for cloud droplets . Once the pandemic hit , though , his research group realized they didn ’ t understand much about the aerosols people emit while breathing , speaking , singing or performing other activities .“ It took some time to scrounge around the country for appropriate instrumentation and space to do our measurements , as well asassemble adiverse team ,” hesays .
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HIS WORK HAS CONTRIBUTED TO IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF COVID PREVENTION . Bzdek ’ sresearch into how aerosols transmit COVID focused on two areas : at arts performances and during clinical procedures . Atthe start of the pandemic , after some high-profile super-spreader events associated with choirs prompted U . K . officials to shut down all cultural activities , many believed that singing was inherently more dangerous than other types of activity .“ We measured aerosols from arange of musicians and singers , including some pop singers , tomeasure how much aerosol they emitted , and how that amount changes with how loud they performed ,” hesays . The biggest takeaways from his research , he says , were that speaking and singing were not especially different ( controlling for volume ). As aresult , London ’ s West End reopened safely for a period in late summer 2020 .
Through his group ’ swork with
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clinicians such as anesthesiologists , dentists and surgeons , Bzdek also found that during their procedures , the clinicians tended not to generate aerosol , and that the fear of it transmitting diseases during them was misplaced . “ This ultimately fed through to changes in the Infection Control and Prevention Manual for England ’ s National Health Service , which will have adirect impact on patient care going forward ,” hesays . “ I never thought my chemistry research would ever have such significant impacts on public policy !”
HE ’ S A FAN OF THE VEAL SINATRA AT POSITANO . Bzdek says he comes back to Wayne at least twice ayear — once around the winter holidays , and once in the summer . When he does , he makes sure toget sushi from Lee ’ s and Veal Sinatra from Positano , and to go for awalk around Packanack Lake .“ More recently , I ’ ve also been enjoying the occasional breakfast or lunch at Jackie Smalls ,” he says . ■
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