Eidem Lab
What's in the air, and what it does to us.
We study bioaerosols: the allergens, microbes, and biologically derived toxins people breathe, and what they do to the lungs and immune system once they're in.
As featured in the Wall Street Journal, NPR, Colorado Public Radio, 9News, and others → See Press
The Eidem Lab is led by Tess Eidem, PhD, who spent years working in the cannabis industry before returning to academic research, after watching colleagues develop occupational allergy and asthma with almost no research to explain why, and seeing how little the industry had adopted even basic food-safety practices, leaving microbial contamination unchecked in cultivation and manufacturing environments and putting consumers at risk right alongside workers. That's what brought her back to the lab bench.
Our NIH-funded research investigates respiratory hazards for cannabis industry workers, and we study the broader public health risks tied to cannabis, advocating for stronger consumer protections and transparency. Building on corresponding-author work on aeroallergen intervention strategies, far-UV light's effects on airborne allergen levels and how a commercial allergen-neutralizing air spray may inactivate airborne allergens, we also work on mitigating airborne allergens more broadly in indoor spaces, where people spend most of their time and breathe most of their air.
Cannabis is our current niche. What drives the work is bigger than that: we know surprisingly little about what's in the air people live and work around, and there are almost no exposure limits to use for reference. Most of what we do is figuring out what's actually in the air, and what it does to us.
We're hiring. Building the Eidem Lab from the ground up, recruiting a research technician and (graduate) students now. See open positions →
- NIH R01 - Occupational Respiratory Hazards in the Growing Cannabis Industry (NHLBI)
- NIH R3CR - Colorado Cannabis Public Health Database
