2021 Philip R. Morey Memorial Award

Established in 2020 to honor Dr. Morey who, with more than 30 years of work experience as an indoor air quality scientist, provided expert analysis on microbial investigations and bio-contamination control. Dr. Morey chaired the ACGIH Bioaerosols Committee in the late 1980s and was one of the original authors of the ACGIH publication Bioaerosols: Assessment and Control. He was a member of the International Academy of Indoor Air Sciences and a Fellow of the American Industrial Hygiene Association. He was also a member of the World Health Organization’s Committee on Guidelines for Biological Agents in the Indoor Environments. In 2014, he was honored with AIHA’s J. Baier Award for technical achievement. He was a frequent presenter to professional conferences and co-authored more than 200 publications. His body of work made an enduring contribution to public health.

The 2021 Philip R. Morey Memorial Award recipient is J. David Miller, PhD.

Dr. Miller received his secondary education at the University of New Brunswick, before studying at the University of Portsmouth in England, where he was also a NATO Science Postdoctoral Fellow. He began his post-university career at Agriculture Canada in 1982, and became head of the Fusarium mycotoxin program in 1988. He became a Professor & NSERC Research Chair at Carleton University in 2000. From 1999-2008, he was a visiting scientist and science advisor in the air health effects section of Health Canada.

Dr. Miller has served on many national and international committees on mold and dampness in the built environment. He currently serves on the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology committee producing practice parameters for environmental allergens. Additionally, he is an elected member of the International Academy of Indoor Air Sciences, and a Fellow of the American Industrial Hygiene Association. He has chaired a working group of world-leading experts convened by the International Agency for Research on Cancer who published on critical health complications from exposure to aflatoxins and fumonisin —mycotoxins produced by molds. The working group published recommendations to reduce exposure in developing countries.

His work involves the development of methods to assess exposure to determinants of respiratory health in indoor environments and on fungal toxins in food and feed. Dr. Miller has partnered with Health Canada and Environment Canada to establish health policy, participated in international panels including the World Health Organization, the US FDA, the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, and the American Industrial Hygiene Association. He has co-written 10 books on the public health aspects of exposures to fungi and published more than 350 papers on fungi and fungal toxins.

Dr. Miller has clearly made a significant contribution in the science of occupational and environmental bioaerosols and biological agents, and is well deserving of the inaugural ACGIH Philip R. Morey Memorial Award.