Anna Hansell
Alma materImperial College London
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Leicester
Imperial College London
ThesisThe epidemiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the UK : spatial and temporal variations. (2005)

Anna Louise Hansell FFPH is a British physician who is Professor of Environmental Epidemiology and Director of the Centre for Environmental Health and Sustainability at the University of Leicester. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hansell studied the relationship between pollution and COVID-19.

Education and early career

Hansell originally studied medicine. She spent six years working in clinical medicine, before specialising in public health. Hansell completed her doctoral research at Imperial College London on the epidemiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the United Kingdom.[1] After completing her doctoral degree she was awarded a Wellcome Trust clinical research fellowship.[2]

Research and academic service

Her research considers environmental noise and air pollution.[3][4] As part of this effort, Hansell made use of historical data and models to estimate black smoke and sulphur dioxide levels across the United Kingdom in 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001. She demonstrated that living in high levels of air pollution in the past increased people's risks of respiratory disease decades after exposure. For example, people who lived in polluted areas in 1971 had a 14% greater risk of dying in 2002 than people who lived in low pollution areas.[5][6]

Hansell has studied the impact of air pollution on birth outcomes, working primarily with mothers in London.[7] Her work showed that in 3% of babies born with a low birth weight the low weight can be attributed to maternal residential exposure to air pollutants.[7] She went on to demonstrate that exposure to air pollution, particularly PM10 particulates due to road traffic, in the first trimester and early life can reduce children's lung function.[8]

In 2014 Hansell launched the Small Health Area Statistics Unit Environment and Health Atlas.[9] The atlas visualised local risk factors for fourteen different diseases, as well as providing details about common environmental agents.[10] Hansell has continued to study the COPD throughout her career, combining data from the UK Biobank with air pollution monitoring systems.[11] She showed that annual increases of 5 µgm−3 PM2.5 particulates in air was comparable to two years of ageing.[11] These investigations allowed her to identify that i populations who live in areas where PM2.5 levels are above the maximum levels recommended by the World Health Organization, COPD is four times higher than in people who experience passive smoking. She has also demonstrated that people who live in low income households are considerably more likely to be detrimentally impacted by air pollution.[11]

Alongside investigating the impact of air pollution, Hansell has studied the impact of noise pollution on mortality.[12] By combining data on hospital admissions and mortality of a cohort of over three million people who live around Heathrow Airport,[13] Hansell showed that deaths due to stroke, heart and circulatory disease are more likely in areas with high levels of aircraft noise.[12][14]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it became apparent that air pollution might play a role in the severity of COVID-19.[15] Hansell investigated the relationships between air pollution and rates of mortality due to coronavirus.[16] Alongside her own research, Hansell provided expert advice on the relationship between pollution, health and viral infection.[17][18] She remarked that the lockdown in the United Kingdom would result in significant reductions in air pollution, in line with travel restrictions and reduced industry operation.[15]

Academic service

She was appointed the President of Epidemiology in the Royal Society of Medicine in 2005. In 2010 Hansell was made Assistant Director of the UK Small Area Health Statistics Unit at Imperial College London. Hansell is a member of the Public Health England Environmental Hazards Programme Board, as well as the Government of the United Kingdom Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants.[3][19]

Selected publications

  • Hansell, A.L.; Walk, J.A.; Soriano, J.B. (2003). "What do chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients die from? A multiple cause coding analysis". European Respiratory Journal. 22 (5): 809–814. doi:10.1183/09031936.03.00031403. ISSN 0903-1936. PMID 14621089.
  • Soriano, Joan B.; Visick, George T.; Muellerova, Hana; Payvandi, Nassrin; Hansell, Anna L. (2005). "Patterns of Comorbidities in Newly Diagnosed COPD and Asthma in Primary Care". Chest. 128 (4): 2099–2107. doi:10.1378/chest.128.4.2099. ISSN 0012-3692. PMID 16236861.
  • Lopez, AD; Shibuya, K; Rao, C; Mathers, CD; Hansell, AL; Held, LS; Schmid, V; Buist, S (February 2006). "Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: current burden and future projections". The European Respiratory Journal. 27 (2): 397–412. doi:10.1183/09031936.06.00025805. PMID 16452599.
  • Hansell, A. L; Beale, L. A; Ghosh, R. E; Fortunato, L; Fecht, D; Järup, L; Elliott, P; Davies, S. C; Imperial College, London (2014). The environment and health atlas for England and Wales. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-870694-6. OCLC 863684088.

References

  1. ↑ Hansell, Anna Louise (2005). The epidemiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the UK: spatial and temporal variations. OCLC 1124165114.
  2. ↑ "Honours and Memberships - Dr Anna Hansell". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  3. 1 2 "Dr Anna Hansell". HDR UK. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  4. ↑ "Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU)". Health Research Authority. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  5. ↑ "Exposure to air pollution 30 years ago associated with increased risk of death :: CALLS-HUB". calls.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  6. ↑ Pearce, Fred. "People today are still dying early from high 1970s air pollution". New Scientist. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  7. 1 2 "Explainer: the danger of tiny particles". Evening Standard. 2020-03-23. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  8. ↑ "Air pollution linked to increased risk of infant death & reduced lung function in children". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  9. ↑ Medical Research Council, M. R. C. (2019-06-04). "Five interesting things … from the postcode health atlas". mrc.ukri.org. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  10. ↑ "Team | The Environment and Health Atlas". www.envhealthatlas.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  11. 1 2 3 Staff, R. T. (2019-09-30). "Air Pollution Increases COPD Risk, Speeds Aging Process | RT". RT: For Decision Makers in Respiratory Care. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  12. 1 2 "Aircraft noise link to heart disease deaths". www.scotsman.com. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  13. ↑ Hansell, Anna L.; Blangiardo, Marta; Fortunato, Lea; Floud, Sarah; Hoogh, Kees de; Fecht, Daniela; Ghosh, Rebecca E.; Laszlo, Helga E.; Pearson, Clare; Beale, Linda; Beevers, Sean (2013-10-08). "Aircraft noise and cardiovascular disease near Heathrow airport in London: small area study". BMJ. 347: f5432. doi:10.1136/bmj.f5432. ISSN 1756-1833. PMID 24103537.
  14. ↑ "ATS 2018: Air Pollutant Concentrations Are Clearly Associated With Decreased Lung Function and Increased Prevalence of COPD". PracticeUpdate. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  15. 1 2 editor, Damian Carrington Environment (2020-05-04). "Is air pollution making the coronavirus pandemic even more deadly?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-05-08. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  16. ↑ "Professor Anna Hansell | Our experts | University of Leicester". le.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  17. ↑ Rakusen, Presented by Ian Sample & produced by India; Finlay, Madeleine; Sanderson, Max (2020-04-28). "Covid-19: what role might air pollution play? – podcast". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  18. ↑ "Pandemic Lockdown Gives Preview of Attainable Air Quality". Applied Sciences from Technology Networks. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  19. ↑ "Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
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