Funding: Medical Research Futures Fund (MRFF), $1.5 million

Cardiometabolic diseases affect around a quarter of Australians 45yr+. Physical activity, including walking, aerobic and resistance training is important, however current physical activity prescriptions and programs can be undermined by low uptake and adherence.

Nature’s green and blue spaces offer a largely underutilised, low/no cost opportunity in chronic disease management that can both attend to people’s interests and provide attractive settings for sustained increase in physical activity.

We aim to co-design and evaluate a nature prescription intervention that sustains physical activity and maximises cardiometabolic health in the target population.

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Funding: Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship, $1 million 

Funding: Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA), $504,624

The project explores how autonomous vehicles can communicate more clearly and safely with pedestrians in real urban environments. The work focuses on supporting designers to co-design and evaluate adaptive interfaces that respond to different people, environments, and situations.

This includes developing a practical toolkit that brings together an understanding of pedestrian behaviours and contexts, tools for rapidly prototyping adaptive interfaces, and immersive simulation to test designs in realistic scenarios.

The goal is to provide a structured and accessible way for designing adaptable vehicle-to-pedestrian communication, helping support safer and more inclusive public spaces as autonomous vehicles begin to appear on Australian streets.

Funding: Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project, $744,401

Mould is a widespread and life-threatening problem, affecting one in three Australian homes. This project aims to develop an early detection strategy using artificial intelligence and low-cost sensors. It will establish how prevalent mould is in different housing types and how it is affected by indoor air quality and construction factors, such as interior materials.

The outcomes include a clear understanding of where mould occurs, indicators for its early detection, and recommendations for healthier indoor environments that can inform policy. Benefits will include more efficient and mould-resilient indoor environments and potential savings of $200 million in avoided treatment.
 

Funding: National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Synergy Grant, $5 million

It is an unstated truth that the stock-standard housing that the majority of Australians occupy is not designed to withstand extremes of temperature. The normalisation of the poor quality of our housing means that problems such as unhealthy indoor temperatures, mould and damp in homes during wintertime are, to-date, under-recognised. However, as much as one quarter of Australian households are estimated to have damp and mould in their homes.

Such addressable housing-related problems make an unquantified but potentially sizeable contribution to the burden of poor health in Australia in terms of respiratory and cardiovascular disease. People with underlying health conditions, elderly people, and socio-economically disadvantaged people are the hardest 'hit' by inadequate housing conditions.

This research aims to identify gaps in evidence on the causal relationships between cold, damp, and mould, and respiratory and cardiovascular conditions in Australia. The project will use this information to estimate the health burden and model the effect of known interventions to reduce cold, damp, and mould
 

Funding: Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF), $1.2 million

This project aims to establish national capabilities to address key interconnected challenges—urban heat, air quality, and noise—that significantly impact the vulnerability and resilience of cities. The Australian Smart Environmental Observatory expects to generate new knowledge fundamental to understanding and responding to these interconnected challenges by deploying a large-scale integrated sensor network in key resilient city hubs across Australia.

Expected outcomes include long-term robust monitoring of climatic and environmental stressors in Australian cities. This should provide significant benefits for research innovation, collaboration and capacity building, and evidence-based policymaking for urban planning and health sectors.
 

Funding: National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) with United Kingdom Research Innovation (UKRI), $1.4 million

Increasing evidence affirms that green spaces can make an important contribution to preventing poor mental health and cardiometabolic diseases. However, little research has been done on which green space qualities maximise impacts on levels of, and socioeconomic inequalities in, mental ill-health and cardiometabolic diseases.

Our project aims to 1) co-produce evidence about which qualities of green space contribute most to the prevention of poor mental health and cardiometabolic disease; 2) co-design policy and urban planning options with our Impact Advisory Group informed by the new evidence; and thereby 3) maximise the contribution of urban green spaces to preventing and equalising these noncommunicable diseases.

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Funding: NHMRC Equipment Grants Scheme, $69K

This project will enhance measurement capacities for multiple projects and seed future research at the intersection of nature, cities, and human health.

Funding: Internal  

Funding: Ignite Glasgow $48k 

Funding: Internal 

This book examines how gentrification shapes public health by transforming social and physical environments, widening health inequities, and influencing lived experience. Bringing together leading international scholars, it offers multidisciplinary perspectives and global case studies to unpack the complex links between urban change and health.

Combining theory, empirical evidence and innovative methods, the book addresses key conceptual and methodological challenges in studying gentrification and health. It equips researchers, policymakers, urban planners and public health professionals with evidence-informed insights to design rigorous studies, reduce health risks, and promote equity in rapidly changing communities.

Funding: Ignite Glasgow $48k

Access to parks and green spaces in cities may help reduce health inequalities between rich and poor, a concept known as ‘equigenesis.’ While studies suggest this link, the evidence is not yet strong. This project aims to understand how green spaces might reduce these differences in heart disease risk through analysis of health data and wearable devices that measure green space effects on heart health.

Funding: Ignite UCL grant, $40K

This project investigates how vegetated building facades can support biodiversity and enhance human experience. Using causal loop diagrams and participatory workshops with academic and industry experts, the project examines the complex interactions between ecological performance, multisensory qualities, and wellbeing outcomes.

The collaborative process identifies key leverage points, feedback mechanisms, and design priorities for delivering biodiverse, perceptually rich façades that strengthen nature connectedness and promote healthier urban living.

The project provides a shared framework to guide future research, innovation, and practice in building-integrated green infrastructure.

Funding: Sydney Environment Grant, $25k

This project investigates how integrating vegetation directly into building envelopes can strengthen ecological function across dense urban environments.

The project analyses how green roofs, walls, and façade systems contribute to habitat provision, species movement, and multi-scalar ecological connectivity. Using spatial modelling, ecological metrics, and scenario testing, BIG evaluates how different configurations and coverage levels influence fragmentation, reconnection, and biodiversity outcomes.

The research provides an evidence-based framework for embedding ecological performance into architectural design, positioning BIG as essential urban infrastructure for supporting resilient ecosystems and delivering long-term environmental benefits.

Funding: Collaborative Research Grant from the Sydney Environment Institute and the School of Architecture, Design and Planning ($40k) 

Funding: Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) & Istanbul Technical University (ITU)

This project is supported by the University of Sydney’s Special Study Program and acknowledges the assistance of the Instituto Jaime Lerner and University of Sao Paulo.   

During the 1990's Curitiba was seen as one of the world's first model eco-cities. Yet how did this happen? This research looks at the city's efforts in environmental diplomacy and the role played by its bus station designs in attracting global attention. The study examines how environmental solutions became globalised during the 1990's and the many actors and agencies involved.