Lydia Bourouiba

Professor Lydia Bourouiba is a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), affiliated with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES). Her research focuses on the intersection of fluid dynamics and disease transmission, with a strong emphasis on biophysics, interfacial flows, turbulence, and multiphase systems.

• Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from McGill University (2008)
• Research on fluid fragmentation, droplet/bubble dynamics, and pathogen transport
• Co-Founder and Associate Director of the NSF Center for Pandemic Prevention (APPEX)

Her work spans fundamental and applied domains, including:

• Biophysics of pathogen transport in air and water
• Turbulent multiphase flows in respiratory events
• Fluid-plant interactions in agricultural disease
• Nonlinear dynamics in public health contexts

Key article trends highlight:

• Biomedical fluid mechanics
• Climate and environment-driven disease modeling
• High-risk/high-reward public health innovations
• Interdisciplinary approaches combining physics, biology, and engineering

Scientific awards include:

• Fellow of the American Physical Society (2021)
• American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering Fellow (2022)
• Smith Family Foundation Odyssey Award for biomedical research
• Ole Madsen Mentoring Award

She serves as Associate Editor for the journal FLOW and has founded conferences like the Gordon Research Conference on Fluids in Disease Transmission. Her lab (Fluids and Health Network) develops experimental and theoretical frameworks to address contamination, pandemic control, and fluid-health-environment interactions.