Research - Our Team

Sílvia Borràs holds a PhD in Environmental Analytical Chemistry from the University of Barcelona (2014). She is currently a researcher in the Climate and Health Group and the manager of AIRLAB.

Her research focuses on the impact of indoor and outdoor air quality on human health, with a particular emphasis on bioaerosols and airborne microbial threats, including the transmission of antimicrobial resistance through the air. She has extensive expertise in advanced analytical techniques for air quality monitoring, with a strong focus on aerosol sampling and its chemical (e.g., particulate matter, metals) and biological (e.g., bacteria, fungi) analysis.

Since 2013, she has also been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Barcelona.

Lines of research

• Air quality monitoring.
• Sampling and analysis of air microbiome.

Main publications

• Microbial richness and air chemistry in aerosols above the PBL confirm 2000 km long distance transport of potential human pathogens. Rodo X Pozdniakova S Borras S Matsuki A Tanimoto H Armengol MP Pey I Vila J Munoz L Santamaria S Canas L Morgui JA Fontal A Curcoll R. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024 Sep 17 12138 e2404191121. DOI 10.1073/pnas.2404191121
• Air monitoring by nanopore sequencing. Reska T Pozdniakova S Borras S Perlas A Sauerborn E Canas L Schloter M Rodo X Wang Y Winkler B Schnitzler JP Urban L. ISME Commun 2024 Jul 16 41 ycae099. DOI 10.1093/ismeco/ycae099
• Sub weekly signatures relate ultrafine aerosols enriched in metals from intensive farming and urban pollution to Kawasaki disease. Rodo X Navarro Gallinad A Kojima T Morgui JA Borras S Fontal A. Environ Res Lett 2023 Jun 19 18 074011. DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/acd798
• Microbial contamination in grocery stores from Portugal and Spain The neglected indoor environment to be tackled in the scope of the One Health approach. Viegas C Gomes B Cervantes R Moreira S Dias M Pena P Carolino E Twaruzek M Kosicki R Soszczynska E Caetano LA Canas L Pozdniakova S Borras S Viegas S. Sci Total Environ 2023 Jun 1 875 162602. DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162602
• A history of the MetaSUB consortium Tracking urban microbes around the globe. Ryon KA Tierney BT Frolova A Kahles A Desnues C Ouzounis C Gibas C Bezdan D Deng Y He D Dias Neto E Elhaik E Afshin E Grills G Iraola G Suzuki H Werner J Udekwu K Schriml L Bhattacharyya M Oliveira M Zambrano MM Hazrin Chong NH Osuolale O Labaj PP Tiasse P Rapuri S Borras S Pozdniakova S Shi T Sezerman U Rodo X Sezer ZH Mason CE. iScience 2022 Oct 20 2511 104993. DOI 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104993