From Australia to the World: The Scientist Leading a Movement for Healthy Indoor Air

By Anthony Samadani, Co-Owner, Good News Network

As co-owner of the Good News Network, I have long believed in shining a light on solutions that improve lives and strengthen communities. That same conviction led me to serve as a commissioner on the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air, an International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) initiative announced yesterday that represents the world’s foremost alliance of global leaders working to advance healthy indoor air. I am deeply passionate about advancing healthy indoor air because it affects every one of us, every single day, in all the buildings where we spend our time.

That’s why I’m especially excited to talk more with one of the Commission’s co-chairs and leaders, a true pioneer in indoor air science: Dr. Lidia Morawska, a Distinguished Professor and Australian Laureate Fellow in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

From her base in Brisbane, Australia, Dr. Morawska has become one of the world’s foremost authorities on indoor air quality. For decades, her groundbreaking research has revealed how the air we breathe inside homes, schools and workplaces affects our health, learning and productivity. Long before indoor air was widely acknowledged as a global health concern, she was documenting its central role and urging governments to take it seriously.

Now, as co-chair of the newly launched Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air, Dr. Morawska is channeling her life’s work into a coordinated international movement. I spoke with her about how the science has evolved, why this moment matters and why this first-of-its-kind commission represents a turning point for global public health.

Q: Early in your career, indoor air quality wasn’t seen as a major scientific priority. What changed?
Dr. Morawska: “When I began my career, few people outside the scientific community considered the air inside buildings to be a matter of serious scientific inquiry. Outdoor pollution captured headlines, but what happened inside, where we spend 90 percent of our lives, remained largely overlooked or neglected. Over the years, my colleagues and I have shown, through painstaking research, that the quality of indoor air significantly influences our health, our well-being, our learning and our productivity. The science has steadily built a case that clean indoor air is not an amenity but a critical component to our health.”

Q: Why does the creation of a Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air feel so significant right now?
Dr. Morawska: “Today, the science has brought us to a turning point. I’m leading the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air because I see an opportunity to elevate decades of research into a coordinated global movement. This Commission represents something we need right now: a gathering of leaders who will not only affirm that indoor air matters, but also work to transform policies, standards and investments so that we can deliver on our shared goal of making healthy indoor air a reality for everyone.”

Dr. Morawska’s leadership underscores the need for action: the science is no longer in doubt. Indoor air quality is one of the most powerful, yet overlooked, determinants of human health. The Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air exists to act on that evidence—mobilizing leaders, shaping policy and driving solutions that can touch everyone’s life and deliver incredible public health benefits all around the world.

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