Indoor air quality is one of the greatest unmet public health challenges, with poor indoor air quality contributing to asthma; infectious diseases such as COVID, flu, and RSV; and cognitive impairment (e.g., headaches, dizziness, loss of productivity). The Clean Indoor Air Initiative launched in 2024 with the recognition that clean indoor air is essential for health, productivity, and economic growth. The Initiative advances healthier indoor environments through developing policy roadmaps and playbooks; convening experts in the field; supporting state and federal legislative efforts; communicating the evidence-base for how cleaner air supports health; and creating implementation tools for schools, nursing homes, and other indoor spaces. 

Advancing action at the state, federal, and international levels

• Convened government leaders in September 2025 for a United Nations side event on Healthy Indoor Air, with lead country co-sponsors Montenegro and France, to catalyze global action (view event recording). Launched the Global Pledge for Healthy Indoor Air.
• Developed the State Guide for Clean Indoor Air in collaboration with 20 organizations as an evidence-based roadmap for state and local leaders to strengthen indoor air quality policy, protect public health, and reduce disease transmission.
• Supporting the launch of the Montenegrin Initiative for Healthy Indoor Air, which will deploy indoor air quality monitors and portable air purifiers across all classrooms (grades 1-9) in Montenegro.
• Maintaining a database of proposed and passed state IAQ legislation, in partnership with the State Clean Indoor Air Collaborative and the Environmental Law Institute. In the past 5 years, 14 states have passed bills to improve IAQ.
• Providing technical expertise to inform the development of Rhode Island bills H5597 and S0977 around indoor air quality in RI schools, building a coalition with the American Lung Association of Rhode Island and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. The Senate bill passed unanimously with bipartisan support (June 2025), and both bills will be revisited during the 2026 legislative cycle.
• Leading the Policy Working Group of the Global Open Air Quality Standards initiative to develop a policy framework for universal air quality standards.

Coalition-building

• Hosting monthly meetings with the Clean Indoor Air Collaborative (30+ partner organizations) on clean indoor air action at the state level and developed a State Guide for Clean Indoor Air with the collaborative.
• Convened a 30-person roundtable in partnership with the Texas A&M Biosecurity and Pandemic Policy Center to advance national indoor air quality policy. Building on the roundtable, we published a two-pager on IAQ priorities for the Federal Government and Congress to consider (with 20+ signatories).

Sector-specific work

• Advanced cleaner indoor air in nursing homes by leading a project in partnership with CDC and the American Health Care Coalition (AHCA, the association representing over 15,000 long term care facilities in the U.S.). Developed a toolkit (published on the AHCA website) for nursing home leaders on how and why to improve indoor air quality, aiming to support the health of over 1.3 million elderly in U.S. nursing centers.
• Helped organize the Stanford Clean Indoor Air Forum (April 2025) to bring private sector leaders together to advance IAQ performance standards in commercial buildings and pave the way for routine IAQ monitoring in buildings. Read the summary of proceedings here.
• Improving IAQ in schools through partnership with the Center for Green Schools, the Boston Public School District, and Boston University and developed a case study on how schools can incorporate routine air monitoring to improve the air quality indoors.

On September 2025 a convening of government leaders for a United Nations side event on Healthy Indoor Air, with lead country co-sponsors Montenegro and France, catalyzed global action and launched the Global Pledge for Healthy Indoor Air.

The team is composed of Georgia Lagoudas, Sabrina Chwalek, Alice Im, and Skandan Ananthasekar along with partnerships with Beth Cameron and other Pandemic Center members. Team members also include past and present Brown undergraduate students.

• Brown University Long-Term Care Quality & Innovation Lab
• American Health Care Association
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Texas A&M University Biosecurity and Pandemic Policy Center
• Stanford University Department of Emergency Medicine
• Australian Academy of Science
• Burnet Institute of Australia
• International WELL Building Institute
• U.S. Green Building Council and the Center for Green Schools
• Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
• Environmental Law Institute
• American Lung Association