Glyndwr University: Academic's Covid mitigation work recognised

Prof Alison McMillan looked at how the virus spread through air

A Wrexham academic has spoken of the satisfaction of taking part in rapid research to help the fight against Covid in the pandemic's early days.

Aerospace expert Prof Alison McMillan responded to a call from the Royal Society, the world's oldest scientific society, during the first lockdown.

Prof McMillan looked at how ventilation could make an impact on virus transmission.

The research became one of the top five cited papers last year.

The aerospace technology professor at Glyndwr University worked as part of a team of academics from across the UK on a paper entitled "The ventilation of buildings and other mitigating measures for Covid-19: a focus on wintertime".

It reviewed existing knowledge of the transmission of Covid indoors, examined evidence for mitigating measures and considered the implications for winter, with a focus on ventilation.

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The paper was published in 2021 after the Royal Society had asked mathematicians and others for rapid assistance in handling the pandemic, and was confirmed as one of 2022's top five most highly referenced works.

Prof McMillan said: "I'm extremely pleased that our multi-author paper has been recognised in this way, particularly as it was work that we all felt was having an impact at a particularly challenging time for everybody.

"The callout came during the height of the first lockdown, when many of us were feeling pretty hopeless and wondering how we could help in some way, so of course I jumped at the chance to be part of it.

"It was great to work on alongside so many others - and this recognition rounds off that experience.

"Many congratulations to Dr Henry Burridge from Imperial College London, who is lead author of the paper, as well as all other colleagues involved."