Makhsous and his team investigate the integration of real-time aerosol sensors in a dental setting to help evaluate and improve mitigation strategies to eliminate aerosol transmission.

The Organization for Safety Asepsis and Prevention (OSAP) announced that Sepehr Makhsous, PhD, is the recipient of its 2021 Dr James A Cottone Award for Excellence in Investigative Research. This award is named for one of the founders of OSAP who “exemplified the best in infection control and safety research,” according to the organization.

Makhsous won for his abstract: “Evaluating Aerosol Persistence During Dental Procedures Using a Real-Time Network of Sensor.”

Eve Cuny, MS, who serves as the chair of the OSAP association board of directors, said, “This abstract provides a new and superior way of measurement of aerosol. Further studies could use this method to build upon the study.”

Makhsous is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington (UW), Seattle. He and his team investigate the integration of real-time aerosol sensors in a dental setting to help evaluate and improve mitigation strategies to eliminate aerosol transmission. He has been working closely with Drs Ernesto Ricardo Schwedhelm, Greg J. Huang, and Daniel C. N. Chan from UW School of Dentistry to evaluate a sensor network system.

The team is looking for collaborators (research, industrial, and military) to help them with understanding the current limitations in aerosolized viruses and pathogens during dental procedures. To learn more, contact Makhsous at [email protected].