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Blueprint Biosecurity
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4/5
High(4)High quality. Established institution or organization with editorial oversight and accountability.
Rating inherited from publication venue: Blueprint Biosecurity
Relevant to biosecurity and pandemic preparedness communities; far-UVC is a proposed non-pharmaceutical intervention for reducing airborne pathogen transmission, with potential relevance to future pandemic response strategies including those involving engineered pathogens.
Metadata
Importance: 28/100organizational reportnews
Summary
Blueprint Biosecurity announces $1M in EXHALE program grants to two research teams evaluating far-UVC light's effectiveness against real human-generated respiratory aerosols containing influenza and SARS-CoV-2. The research aims to build the evidence base needed to deploy far-UVC in schools, hospitals, and public spaces as a pandemic countermeasure. Results are expected by mid-2026.
Key Points
- •~$1M awarded to teams at Emory University/Virginia Tech and University of Nebraska Medical Center to study far-UVC against influenza and SARS-CoV-2 in human aerosols.
- •Prior lab studies showed far-UVC germicidal properties on surfaces and lab aerosols; this research tests effectiveness on complex human-generated respiratory aerosols.
- •Far-UVC (200-235nm) can inactivate airborne pathogens including viruses, bacteria, and fungi while being safe for human exposure due to limited skin penetration.
- •Target deployment environments include schools, hospitals, and public spaces as a broad community-level pandemic preparedness tool.
- •Initial results expected mid-2026, contributing to the evidence base for regulatory and deployment decisions around far-UVC technology.
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Bioweapons Risk | Risk | 91.0 |
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#### FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
## **Blueprint Biosecurity Announces EXHALE Award Recipients**
### _$1M awarded to evaluate far-UVC’s real-world effectiveness as a pandemic countermeasure_
**WASHINGTON, D.C.** – November 13, 2025 – Blueprint Biosecurity, a nonprofit organization working to prevent pandemics and strengthen society’s response to biological threats, today announced the recipients of its Exposure of Human Aerosols to far-UVC Light for pathogen Elimination (EXHALE) program awards, a funding initiative aimed at evaluating the real-world effectiveness of far-UVC light as a pandemic countermeasure.
Blueprint is awarding approximately $1M in grants to fund two research teams to evaluate far-UVC’s effectiveness in real, human-generated respiratory aerosols. Dr. Seema Lakdawala’s team at Emory University, in collaboration with Dr. Linsey Marr and her group from Virginia Tech, will study the technology’s effect on influenza, while Dr. Joshua Santarpia’s team at the University of Nebraska Medical Center will study both influenza and SARS-CoV-2.
While existing laboratory studies have demonstrated far-UVC’s germicidal properties against various pathogens on surfaces and in lab-generated aerosol droplets, this research will provide critical data on far-UVC’s effectiveness against the complex aerosols humans actually produce when breathing, talking, and coughing.
“The EXHALE program is one of several efforts to build our pandemic preparedness toolkit against airborne pathogens,” said James Montavon, Far-UVC Deputy Director at Blueprint Biosecurity. “By generating the data needed to deploy far-UVC broadly, we’re building the evidence base for a technology that could protect entire communities in the event of a future airborne pandemic.”
“We’re grateful for Blueprint’s support in advancing our understanding of whether far-UVC inactivates influenza viruses expelled into the air by infected people,” said Dr. Seema Lakdawala, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Emory University and Co-director of the Emory Center for Transmission of Airborne Pathogens. “This funding enables us to generate critical data needed to
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