Bharath Kumandan
bk729@u.washington.edu

Major

Biology, University of Washington


Research summary

The purpose of my research is to investigate how traditional forms of heating and cooking, ie. wood and coal burning stoves, correlate with respiratory diseases in children, mainly in the form of asthma. This research will take place in Chengdu, Sichuan province of the Peoples Republic of China. In areas where the main fuel for cooking and heating is wood, coal, or other biomass, there will be higher instances of asthma in children, as the children, when at home, are likely to be around a stove that emits the particulates and pollution into the air.

Our hypothesis is that we will see higher instances of child asthma from children in households with less than adequate ventilations systems, and generally just from houses that utilize a wood/coal burning system vs. centralized gas or electric heating systems. The reason we are studying this relationship is because there is still not very much empirical information studying the correlation. Research has just started in the area, but more still needs to be done to properly confirm the relationship. (March 2006)

Awards

IPE Study Abroad Scholarship
Howard Hughes Internship

Highlights

- Seeing Yunan and hiking through Tiger Leaping Gorge. We saw Dali and Lijiang, and went down to SiShuangBanna, which is really close to the Mayanmar (Burmese) border.
- My 21st birthday in China was amazing. My friends rented out a whole bar, and posted posters all over town for the party. It ended up being the largest party the bar has ever had.