Photo of Dr Elisa Puzzolo

Dr Elisa Puzzolo MSc(hons), MPH, PhD

Senior Research Fellow and Co-Director of CLEAN-Air(Africa) Global Health Reserach Unit Public Health, Policy & Systems

Research

Research Overview

My field of research is environmental public health/ household air pollution (HAP) which causes 2.3 million premature deaths annually.

Household air pollution, energy access and evaluation of clean cooking interventions

My research primarily relates to the evaluation of clean cooking interventions at household and institutional (e.g. school) level and associated impacts on health, gender and climate change, in order to provide evidence for policies on HAP prevention through adoption of clean fuels and energy.
Other aspects of my activities include health systems strengthening and capacity building in partner countries (Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Cameroon) to address the burden of disease from air pollution in sub-Saharan Africa.


Research Grants

CLEAN-Air(Africa) Unit

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK)

June 2022 - May 2027

NIHR Global Health Research Group on Clean Energy Access for the prevention of Non-communicable disease in Africa through clean Air: CLEAN-AIR(Africa)

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK)

April 2018 - June 2022

Universal Energy Access: the role of Clean Cooking and Climate Change Impacts

THE RESEARCH COUNCIL OF NORWAY (NORWAY)

January 2020 - August 2023

Modern Energy Cooking Services: Cameroon MECS Evaluation

DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (DFID) (UK)

September 2020 - August 2022

Modern Energy Cooking Services Programme

DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (DFID) (UK)

October 2018 - September 2023

Household air pollution and risk of esophageal cancer: a case-control study in Western Kenya

DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY (BEIS) (UK)

January 2019 - March 2022

Research Collaborations

Dr James Mwitari

Project: CLEAN-Air(Africa) Global Health Research Unit
External: Kenya Medical Research Institute

Working together on the establishment of the first Air Pollution Centre of Excellence at Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) in Kenya which will lead an extensive household air pollution monitoring with state of the art technology.

Prof. Hisham Zerriffi

Project: Monitoring and evaluation of adoption and use of LPG for cooking in rural Gujarat
External: University of British Columbia

Advisor for the project

Prof. Thomas Clasen

Project: Household Air Pollution Intervention Network Trial (HAPIN)
External: Emory University

The Household Air Pollution Intervention Network is a randomized multi-country controlled trial to assess the health impacts of switching to LPG in India, Peru, Guatemala and Rwanda.

Dr Eva Rehfuess

Project: Adoption of cooking tecknologies in LMICs countries
External: University of Munich

Household air pollution and health: joint grant holder for a DfID systematic review looking at the adoption of improved cooking technologies and cleaner fuels, a systematic review published in the WHO Air Quality Guidelines: Household Fuel Combustion