An Aussie researcher who spearheaded efforts to alert the world to the significance of aerosol SARS-CoV-2 transmission has been named one of Time magazine’s most influential people of 2021. 

Professor Lidia Morawska of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) says medical professionals understood the risks of aerosol particles, but health authorities needed convincing. 

“Since the beginning of our quest of bringing this significance to the world, all my medical colleagues, all the medical community was behind this,” she told Brisbane radio station 4BC after learning of the honour. 

She’d been named among the world’s top 100 influential people of the year by Time for her role in leading the push for recognition of the dangers of airborne transmission.