Richard L. Vincent, MS, FIES
Biography
Mr. Vincent trained as an architect at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He began his career conducting research projects on light and vision for office workers, coal miners, visibility nighttime running lights on aircraft carriers and visibility of small objects on lighted roadways. Vincent directed the Lighting Research Institute’s programs (1982-1995) where investigations established the impact of light on seasonal affected disorder (SAD), implications of fluorescent lighting and malignant melanoma in Australian office workers and the application of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) to control transmission of airborne pathogens. Since 1991 Mr. Vincent has focused on an environmental health program applying using ultraviolet air cleansing technology and tools to control the transmission of tuberculosis in high risk settings. During his tenure at St. Vincent’s Hospital, NY, he was the project manager and lighting technology specialist for the Tuberculosis Ultraviolet Shelter Study (TUSS), (1997-2004). TUSS—a multidisciplinary, multicenter epidemiological field trial of ultraviolet air cleansing effectiveness was formed by St. Vincent’s Hospital, Department of Community Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) to advance the state-of-the art knowledge to UVGI application for airborne disease control in homeless shelters. Mr. Vincent worked with engineers in site selection, planning of UVGI installations, site visits, commissioning, and maintenance of the UVGI systems over a seven year period. TUSS placed 1200 UV fixtures in 14 different buildings in six different US cities.
TUSS’s work was extended to consider other airborne diseases including influenza viruses, and surrogates for bioterror agents, namely smallpox virus and anthrax spores. A further extension included the first field test of UVGI in-duct effectiveness in a commercial building in Manhattan, NY.
The work of St. Vincent’s Community Medicine transitioned to sponsorship of Mt. Sinai Medical Center in May 2010. Vincent continues his work with the UVGI collaboration under this new sponsorship where projects continue the development of an advanced UVGI fixture and Computer Aided Design (CAD) tool for UVGI fixture placement. Mr. Vincent interests in finding cost effective solutions to applying UVGI systems in resource limited settings.
Mr. Vincent is contributing lessons learned from the TUSS project including ASHRAE’s 2008 HVAC Equipment Handbook Chapter 16 on Ultraviolet Lamp Systems. He chaired two the International Commission on Illumination (CIE), committees which published CIE (2010) CIE 187:2010 UV-C Photocarcinogenesis Risks from Germicidal Lamps. CIE Technical Report TC 6-59. Vienna, Austria, Commission International De L'Eclairage: 1-64. CIE (2003). CIE 155:2003 Ultraviolet Air Disinfection. CIE Technical Report TC 6-35. Vienna, Austria, Commission International De L'Eclairage: 1-64. Since 2008 he has been on faculty at the Harvard School of Public Health’s Continuing Professional Education Course: Building Design and Engineering to Prevent Airborne Infection – An International Approach. In 2009 he became an accredited professional in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, (LEED).