Dusan Licina, Head
Dusan Licina is an associate professor in the HOBEL at EPFL. He conducts fundamental and applied research in the field of sustainable and healthy built environment, with a specific focus on indoor air pollutant dynamics, exposure science, and building ventilation. Dusan holds MSc. and BSc. degrees in Mechanical Engineering (University of Belgrade). He completed his joint Doctorate degree at the National University of Singapore and Technical University of Denmark, followed by a postdoctoral appointment at the University of California Berkeley. Prior to joining EPFL, he also served as the director of the Standard Development team at the International WELL Building Institute. Dusan is the recipient of several honors and awards, including Yaglou award by the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ) for significant research accomplishments on sustainable healthy buildings, and Ralph G. Nevin’s award by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) given in recognition of significant accomplishment in the study of human response to the environment. He is editorial board member of the highly acclaimed Indoor Air journal. He is passionate about raising awareness about the air quality issues worldwide and developing buildings that are not only energy efficient, but that also contribute to “Michelin Star” indoor air quality.
Bowen Du, Postdoctoral Scientist
Bowen is a postdoctoral researcher in the HOBEL at EPFL. His research focuses on the impact of indoor air quality (IAQ) on health and performance. Bowen holds a PhD degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto, and Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVAC & R) Engineering from the Tongji University. In the team, Bowen works on advancing IEQ assessment in European residential and educational buildings—including the development of improved metrics and evaluation of retrofit impacts—while also contributing to the development of the Global IAQ Database to transform how indoor air quality and human exposure are understood.
Sandra Dedesko, Postdoctoral Scientist
Sandra is a postdoctoral researcher in the HOBEL at EPFL. Her research focuses on the intersection of engineering and public health to improve the health and sustainability impacts of buildings. Sandra holds a PhD degree in Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto. In the team, Sandra works on a modeling study examining the impacts of lower-carbon cooling strategies on indoor environmental conditions, health outcomes, and energy use—aiming to understand how indoor variables like moisture can be leveraged to improve health while reducing environmental impacts.
Kristen Yeh, Postdoctoral Scientist
Kristen is a postdoctoral researcher in the HOBEL at EPFL. Her research focuses on indoor sources, dynamics, and health impacts of ultrafine particles under varying environmental and building operational conditions. She holds a PhD in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Toronto, where she investigated emissions from cannabis smoke and the effects of wildfires on indoor air quality. In the team, she works on understanding the exposure–dose relationship of ultrafine particles from diverse indoor sources, aiming to inform healthier and more sustainable indoor environments.
Joan Rey, Postdoctoral Scientist
Joan is a postdoctoral researcher working within the HOBEL at EPFL and the croqAIR lab at HEIA-FR. His work combines research and teaching, with a strong focus on indoor air quality, health, and energy-efficient buildings. He holds a PhD degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from EPFL, a Master’s degree in Atmospheric Chemistry and Climatology from the University of Geneva, and a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Lausanne. In the team, he works on the analysis and dissemination of the SCOL’AIR project on children’s exposure to indoor air quality, as well as on the evaluation and integration of French and Swiss datasets into a centralized open-source database to support future research on healthy and sustainable built environments.
Matteo Favero, Postdoctoral Scientist
Matteo is a postdoctoral researcher in the HOBEL at EPFL. His research focuses on human comfort, indoor environmental quality, and data-driven modelling of human–building interactions. He holds a PhD degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Building Engineering from Politecnico di Milano. He also worked as a building engineer in the industry for a few years. In the team, he works on monitoring campaigns for energy-efficient building retrofits, experimental design, and the application of causal inference methods to understand occupant behaviour and well-being.
Chenxi Liao, Postdoctoral Scientist
Chenxi Liao is a postdoctoral researcher in the HOBEL at EPFL. She holds a Doctorate degree in Engineering from Ghent University, Belgium. Her research interests include building ventilation, indoor air quality (IAQ), and their effects on human comfort and health (such as sleep quality). In her current role, she works on the Global IAQ Database project, where she optimizes data contribution procedures, expands the database, conducts meta-analyses, and shares insights on IAQ trends worldwide. Her work aims to identify key building characteristics, equipment, and occupant behaviors related to ventilation across different building typologies and climates worldwide. Prior to joining the team, Chenxi worked as an automotive engineer focusing on thermal management in passenger cabins. She is passionate about the built environment and its impact on human behaviors, comfort, and health, as well as the cost-effectiveness of interventions to better understand the value of investing in healthier indoor spaces.
Tianqi Liu, PhD Student
Tianqi is a PhD student in HOBEL at EPFL. His research focuses on the intersection of indoor air quality, thermal comfort, and building operations. Tianqi holds a Master’s degree in Building Performance and Diagnostics from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor’s degree in Building Environment and Energy from Tianjin University. In the team, Tianqi works on human-centric sensing and environmental control to enhance occupant comfort and health in office buildings.
Hui Dong, PhD Student
Hui is a PhD student in HOBEL at EPFL. Her research focuses on pathogen transmission and energy-efficient control strategies in indoor environments. Hui holds two Master’s degrees—in Environmental Technology and Public Health—from Imperial College London, and a Bachelor’s degree in Building Environment and Energy from Tianjin University. In the team, she works on strategies to mitigate pathogen transmission indoors while balancing energy consumption.
Maria Loizou, PhD Student
Maria is a PhD student in HOBEL at EPFL. Her research focuses on the intersection of indoor air quality and embodied carbon in the context of building renovation. Maria holds a Master’s degree in Architecture from EPFL. Before joining academia, they worked at ESTIA SA, a Building Physics office, where they developed data analysis methods to assess embodied energy and support low-carbon design. In the team, Maria works on the European Horizon project INBLANC, aiming to explore the link between health and sustainability by studying how renovation strategies impact both indoor air quality and embodied CO₂ emissions in real-world case studies.
Khadija Sharaf Din, PhD Student
Khadija is a PhD student in HOBEL at EPFL. Her research focuses on the intersection of indoor aerosol chemistry and human health, particularly the behavior and transformation of ultrafine particulate matter in indoor environments. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Government College University (GCU), Lahore, and a master’s degree in Environmental Science from NUST, Islamabad. She also worked at NUST as a research assistant with the Climate Change and Atmospheric Research Group (C-CARGO), where she studied air pollution, environmental processes, and human health. In the team, she works on a project aiming to assess emerging health risks from indoor aerosols and support the development of strategies for healthier indoor spaces.
Enes Gusinjac, PhD Student
Enes is a PhD student in the HOBEL at EPFL. His research focuses on human-centric designs and data analytics for sustainable buildings. He holds a Master’s degree from the Department for Management, Technology and Informatics in Construction, Faculty of Civil Engineering at the University of Belgrade, Serbia. In the team, he will work on passive cooling strategies and the effects of natural ventilation on human comfort and health during extreme events such as heatwaves and wildfires.
Ruijie Zhu, PhD Student
Ruijie is a PhD student in the HOBEL at EPFL. Her research focuses on the sources, dynamics, and health impacts of indoor ultrafine particles (UFPs). Ruijie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering (2022) and a Master’s degree in Environmental Science (2025) from Nanjing University, China, where she specialized in the physicochemical properties and toxicological effects of micro- and nanoparticles. In the team, she will work on integrating nanoparticle characterization, toxicology, and data-driven analysis to advance understanding of indoor air pollutants, aiming to inform healthier indoor environments and building designs.
Nadine Nassif, Administrative Specialist
Nadine takes care of the structural work that allows research breathe—fund tracking, onboarding, payments, documentation, all the threads that hold a lab together.
PhD
Joan Rey
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Han-Yun Jhang
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Evangelos Belias
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Seoyeon Yun
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Gonzalez Serrano, Maria Viviana
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Postdoc
Cairan Van Rooyen
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Stefan Flagner
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Shen Yang
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Sarah Crosby
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Tianren Wu
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