Frank J. Kelly is a British professor of community health and policy and Head of the Environmental Research Group (a global centre dedicated to air pollution research) at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

. He is an authority on the medical effects of air pollution.

Academic career and research

Kelly obtained his first degree from

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, before taking a Ph.D. in

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

there as well. He then joined

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

, as a postdoctoral fellow. After working in the United States, he returned to the UK as a lecturer at

Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

. During the early part of his career, his research focused on

free-radical In chemistry, a radical, also known as a free radical, is an atom, molecule, or ion that has at least one unpaired valence electron. With some exceptions, these unpaired electrons make radicals highly chemically reactive. Many radicals spont ...

biology and human disease, and lung damage in

premature babies Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 weeks, very early preterm birth is between 2 ...

and

cystic fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. O ...

patients. In 1992, Kelly moved to London and developed a new research interest in the effect of air pollution on

lungs The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of th ...

and respiratory health. He became a Senior Lecturer at

St Thomas’ Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foun ...

, where his research interests included the health effects of

vitamin E Vitamin E is a group of eight fat soluble compounds that include four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. Vitamin E deficiency, which is rare and usually due to an underlying problem with digesting dietary fat rather than from a diet low in vitami ...

, before moving to

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, where he was Professor of Environmental Health and Director of the Environmental Research Group. Kelly and his group transferred to Imperial College in 2020. His current work includes WellHome, a large study of how indoor air pollutants affect childhood asthma in urban environments. Kelly works with the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

on air pollution issues and is a member of the

Health Effects Institute The Health Effects Institute (HEI) is an independent, non-profit corporation specializing in research on the health effects of air pollution. It is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. HEI was founded in 1980 with Archibald Cox ...

(HEI) Review Committee. He has also served as Chairman of the UK Department of Health Expert Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP), President of the European Society for Free Radical Research, and Chairman of the British Association for Lung Research. Kelly has published over 380 peer-reviewed papers.

Awards

Kelly won the 2019

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...

Toxicology Award for "outstanding research into free radical and antioxidant toxicological mechanisms relevant to pulmonary toxicity". Also that year, he shared the Elsevier Haagen-Smit Prize with Julia Fussell for a paper on the toxicity of particulate air pollution. He was elected a

Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) is an award for medical scientists who are judged by the UK Academy of Medical Sciences for the "excellence of their science, their contribution to medicine and society and the range of th ...

in 2018 and became an honorary fellow of the

Institute of Air Quality Management The Institute of Air Quality Management (IAQM) was launched in November 2002 to provide a focal point for all air quality professionals The IAQM is the largest professional body for air quality experts in the UK as well as the authoritative voice ...

in 2021.

Media appearances

Kelly is a frequent media commentator on air quality issues, such as pollution in London, pollution caused by road transport, whether a shift to electric cars can tackle air quality, the use of taxes to improve air quality, indoor air pollution, air quality in other parts of the world, and the effectiveness of air pollution limits and guidelines.

Selected publications

Books and reports

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Scientific papers

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Frank J Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Academics of Imperial College London Academics of King's College London Environmental health practitioners British medical researchers British physiologists Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Pennsylvania State University alumni Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Air pollution in the United Kingdom