20 Elsa Reichmanis (center), Carl Robert Anderson Chair in Chemical Engineering, works with students in the Health, Science, and Technology (HST) building. The open-space, shared lab and transparent walls put research on display, sparking curiosity and innovation. WE DREAM BIG. Health, Science & Technology Building Lehigh researchers are already at work in the expansive new spaces of the Health, Science, and Technology (HST) building. Devoted to advancing research, the building features 231 new research bench positions, open-space labs, and modern workspaces designed to spark the kind of collaboration and idea sharing that will lead to revolutionary innovations. What will the building make possible? Interdisciplinary teams in HST have come together to explore how computational models can be merged with human opinions to forecast trends in COVID; how polymerbased electronic devices might improve energy storage in advanced batteries; if cultivated meat could help eliminate environmental hazards; and more. Hyunok Choi, assistant professor in the College of Health, is working to understand the connections between air pollution and the development of asthma in infants and toddlers. Answers could lead to better asthma medication and treatments, early intervention and prevention, new government and corporate policies, and other changes that will improve children’s health. “It would be a moonshot to be able to develop an effective strategy that is targeted to air pollution-driven asthma,” she says. Finding the solution takes teamwork — and a place like HST. “I could never do any of this alone,” Choi says. Through collaboration with colleagues in education, biology, psychology, business, and engineering, she’s exploring all aspects of the problem, ranging from cell development and economic impact to how communities and schools might help intervene. “Being together means the world to us researchers,” Choi says of HST. “I want the students and faculty and post-docs to have a home where they can learn from each other and challenge each other. Feeling secure and a great sense of community and fraternity and how to articulate that feeling that you are understood and accepted and liked — that’s what I’m trying to create.” GO: The Campaign for Lehigh has helped fuel the completion of the HST building. More than 4,000
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