Summary
In his 20s, Joseph Allen helped run his father’s investigative agency and started the process to become an FBI agent. When that didn’t work out, he turned to another passionтАФscience. Allen now runs the Healthy Buildings Program at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where his research has helped nail down the connections between indoor air quality and human health and cognition. During the pandemic, Allen became a prominent voice on public health, writing dozens of editorials criticizing early guidance from health authorities and debunking misconceptions about how the coronavirus spreads. He has also been advising schools, businesses, and other organizations on how to make the air inside their buildings healthier, during the pandemic and afterward.
