Phoebe Davis is a current doctoral researcher within the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) Experimental Toxicology department. After completion of her BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences she was awarded a British Toxicology Society (BTS) scholarship, where she investigated ‘the role of oxidative stress in the airway upon exposure to fungi.’ This early research sparked her curiosity into better understanding how microbial exposures can trigger cellular stress and inflammatory pathways, providing the foundations of indoor environmental health and the biological impact of poor housing conditions.
PhD Title:
Investigating the changing VOC profile of different indoor building materials contaminated with damp and mould, and the potential health effects of key VOC and mould exposures in cell-based airway models
Project description:
Her PhD project focuses on understanding how indoor building materials behave when they become damp or contaminated with mould, and how these changes affect respiratory health. A major part of this research examines the changing volatile organic compound (VOC) profile released from common UK building materials as they progress through different stages of dampness and fungal contamination. She uses in-vitro airway models to assess how these VOC mixtures, along with fungal bioaerosols, influence the respiratory epithelium. To subsequently evaluate specific toxicological endpoints, including inflammatory cytokine release, oxidative stress markers, epithelial barrier integrity, and other early indicators of airway irritation or dysfunction. This approach provides a mechanistic understanding of how indoor environmental exposures may contribute to respiratory symptoms and help identify which VOCs (or combinations of VOCs and mould) pose the greatest biological concern.
Alongside experimental work she is engaging with key stakeholders from housing and building-related sectors, their insight helps align experiments with practical challenges faced in UK homes, strengthening the relevance and impact of the findings.