The Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (DEPH) provides the scientific co-ordination for the project and makes major contributions to a number of the work packages. DEPH is an internationally leading centre for research on environmental epidemiology, and runs the UK Small Area Health Statistics Unit. It has a large portfolio of research on environmental epidemiology, at national, European and wider level. Current studies focus on air pollution (urban, transport-related, long-range), EMF from mobile phone masts, chlorination byproducts in drinking water, landfill sites, noise (from airports and road traffic) and environmental injustice. International links are strong, and as well as providing regular consultancy support to the World Health Organisation, it is currently commissioned by the US Centres for Disease Control to develop systems for spatial analysis and modelling of environmental health risks. It also runs a large, state-of-the-art GIS laboratory, and has extensive facilities for environmental modelling.

Professor David Briggs holds a chair in Environmental and Health Science and runs the GIS unit in the Small Area Health Statistics Unit. He has co-ordinated or been a PI on more than 10 EU-funded projects in recent years, including APMoSPHERE (Air Pollution Modelling for Support to Policy on Health and Environmental Risks in Europe), BICEPS (Building and Information Capacity for Environmental Policy Support), HEARTS (Health Effects and Risks of Transport Systems), MANTLE (Mapping Night Time Light Emissions for Policy Support), and SAVIAH-I and SAVIAH-II (Small Area Variations in Air Quality and Health). He has led over 50 other research projects, funded inter alia, by national research councils, government departments, NATO, charities and WHO. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the European Environment Agency and a regular consultant to WHO, the European Commission and national policy organisation (DEFRA, Countryside Agency, English Nature). He has published over 100 scientific papers and chapters in books, and authored or edited more than 20 books and research monographs.

Dr. Mark Nieuwenhuijsen (Reader in Environmental Epidemiology) is an expert on occupational and environmental exposure assessment and epidemiology and published over 70 scientific papers in peer reviewed journals, edited a book on exposure assessment in occupational and environmental epidemiology and (co) authored more than 10 chapters in books. He led the EU funded EXPASCAN study which studied the relation between arsenic around a coal burning power plant and the development of skin cancer. His current studies include, amongst others, the exposure assessment and epidemiology of chlorination by-products in water, diesel particulate exposure and asthma, endocrine disruptors and hypospadias and exposure to mercury and the development of kidney disease.

Prof Briggs will act as overall project co-ordinator for the project, will co-ordinate Sub-Project 3 (Policy Assessments) and Sub-Project 5 (Integration and Training); Dr. Nieuwenhuijsen will lead WP3.4 (Water). Both PIs will contribute extensively to the study, including: WP1.2 (Source-exposure), WP1.3 (Exposyre-health effect), WP2.1 (Environmental monitoring), WP3.1 (Transport), WP3.3 (Agricultural land use), WP4.2 (Toolbox development) and WP4.3 (Application), WP5.1 (Integration), WP5.2 (Internal training), WP6.1 (User consultation) and WP6.2 (Dissemination) and WP6.3 (External training).