Publications

The pages are not currently up to date - the site is being reformatted. In the meantime, for complementary publication information see here. For other general updates, see here and here.

Wang, Y. and Bourouiba, L. (2022) Mass, momentum, and energy partitioning in unsteady fragmentation. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 935:A29. PDF.

Bourouiba, L. (2021)  Fluid dynamics of respiratory infectious diseases. Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering. 23:547-577. [Among the most downloaded of the journal in the past 12 months]

Highlight in Knowable Magazine.

Randall, K. and Ewing, E. T. and Marr, L. and Jimenez, J. and Bourouiba, L. (2021) How Did We Get Here: What Are Droplets and Aerosols and How Far Do They Go? A Historical Perspective on the Transmission of Respiratory Infectious Diseases. Journal of the Royal Society Interface Focus. 11:20210049.

Krishnan, R., G., Cenci, S. and Bourouiba, L. (2021) Mitigating bias in estimating epidemic severity due to heterogeneity of epidemic onset and data aggregation. Annals of Epidemiology. in press.

Bourouiba, L. (2021) The fluid dynamics of disease transmission. Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics. 53:473-508. [Among the most downloaded of the journal in the past 12 months]

Highlight in Knowable Magazine.

Wang, Y. and Bourouiba, L.  (2021) Growth and breakup of ligaments in unsteady fragmentation. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 910:A39.

Queshi, Z., Greenhalgh, T., and Bourouiba, L. (2021) The return to school is welcome, but we must minimise shared air.  The British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Wang, Y. and Bourouiba, L.  (2021) Non-Galilean Taylor-Culick law governs sheet dynamics in unsteady fragmentation. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. In press.

Jones, N, R., Queshi, Z., Temple, R., Larwood, J. P. J., Greenhalgh, T., and Bourouiba, L. (2020) 2 metres or 1? What is the evidence base for physical distancing in the context of COVID-19? The British Medical Journal (BMJ). 370:m3223 PDF. 

In the news: Altmetric.

Balachandar, S., Zaleski, S., Soldati, A., Ahmadi, G., Bourouiba, L. (2020) Host-to-host airborne transmission as a multiphase flow problem for science-based social distance guidelines. International Journal of Multiphase Flow. 132: 103439.

Lee, S., Kwok, N. W., Holsapple, J., Heldt, T., Bourouiba, L. (2020) Enhanced wall shear stress prevents obstruction by astrocytes in ventricular catheters. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 17:20190884. PDF.

Supplementary information SI and videos: S1, S2, and S3

In the news: MIT NEWS

Bourouiba, L. (2020) Turbulent Gas Clouds and Respiratory Pathogen Emissions: Potential Implications for Reducing Transmission of COVID-19. Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). 323(18):1837–1838 AMA Published online March 26. 2020PDF.

In the news: Altmetric

Supplementary Video: Respiratory Pathogen Emission Dynamics.

Bahl, P., Doolan, C., de Silva, C., Chughtai, A. A., Bourouiba, L. and MacIntyre, C. R. (2020) Airborne or Droplet Precautions for Health Workers Treating Coronavirus Disease 2019? The Journal of Infectious Diseases, jiaa189, https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaa189

In the news: Altmetric

Primkulov, B. K., Pahlavan, A. A., Bourouiba, L., Bush, J. W. M., Juanes, R. (2020) Hydrodynamics of spin coating in capillary tubes. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 886:A30.

Alsved, M., Bourouiba, L.*, Duchaine, C., Londahl J., Marr, L., Parker, S., Prussing II, A., and Thomas, R.* (2020) Natural sources and experimental generation of bioaersols: Challenges and perspectives. Aerosol Science and Technology. 54:547-571. Doi:10.1080/02786826.2019.1682509. PDF.

Bourouiba, L., Lee, S., and Heldt, T., (2019) Cerebrospinal fluid space draining catheters. Provisional US Patent - serial number 62/937,975.

Poulain, S. and Bourouiba, L. (2019) Disease transmission via drops and bubbles. Physics Today 72:70. PDF

Poulain, S. and Bourouiba, L. (2018) Biosurfactants change the thinning of contaminated bubbles at bacteria-laden water interfaces. Physical Review Letters. 121:204502. PDF

Selected as PRL's Editors' Suggestion.

In the news: MIT NEWS,  and other outlets at Altmetric.

Poulain, S., Villermaux, E., and Bourouiba, L. (2018) Ageing and burst of surface bubbles. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 851: 636-671. PDF

Selected for volume cover page: PDF.

Lejeune, S., Gilet, T., and Bourouiba, L. (2018) Edge-effect: Liquid sheet and droplets formed by drop impact close to an edge. Physical Review Fluids. 3, 083601. PDF. 

Wang, Y. and Bourouiba, L. (2018) Unsteady sheet fragmentation: Droplet sizes and speeds. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 848: 946-967. PDF

Wang, Y., Dandekar, R., Bustos, N., Poulain, S., and Bourouiba, L. (2018) Universal rim thickness in unsteady sheet fragmentation. Physical Review Letters.120, 204503. PDF

In the news: MIT NEWS and other outlets at Altmetric.

Wang, Y. and Bourouiba, L. (2018) Non-isolated drop impacts. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 835:24-44. PDF

Wang, Y. and Bourouiba, L. (2017) Drop impact on small surfaces: thickness and velocity profiles of the expanding sheet in the air. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 814:510-534. PDF

Majumder, S. M., Brownstein, J. S., Frinkelstein, S. N., Larson, R. C. and Bourouiba, L. (2017) Nosocomial amplification of MERS-Coronavirus in South Korea, 2015. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 111:261-269. PDF.

Zhao, L., Chuang, A., Panayotovam, I.N., Sheldon, K.S., Bourouiba, L., and Miller, L.A (2017). Flying Spiders: Simulating and modeling the dynamics of ballooning. Springer International Publishing AG 2017– Mathematics and Statistics Series:179-231. DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-60304-9_10. PDF

Sheldon, K. S., Zhao, L., Chuang, A., Panayotovam, I. N., Miller, L.A., and Bourouiba, L. (2017) Revisiting the physics of spider ballooning. Springer International Publishing AG 2017– Mathematics and Statistics Series:163-178. DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-60304-9_9. PDF.

Gilet, T. and Bourouiba, L. (2017) La physique de la pluie conditionne la propagation des maladies en agriculture. Reflets de la Physique. 54:4-9. PDF.

Selected for the volume cover page.

Jung, S.,  Staples, S.,   Dabiri, J.,  Marsden, A.,  Prakash,  M., Davis, K., Shadden,  S., Savin, T., Bourouiba, L., and Sznitman, J. (2016) Research Trends in Biological Fluid Dynamics.  US National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (USN/TAM) Invited Report on Recent Trends in Mechanics. Publications of the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. PDF

Bourouiba, L. (2016) A Sneeze. New England Journal of Medicine. 357(8):e15.

Medical shares and in the news: International Media Coverage

Scharfman, B. E., Techet, A. H., Bush, J. W. M. and Bourouiba, L. (2016) Visualization of sneeze ejecta: steps of fluid fragmentation leading to respiratory droplets. Experiments in Fluids. 57:24--1-9  PDF

In the news: MIT Spotlight; MIT NEWS; BBC NEWS; CBS NEWS

Associated Videos

Featured in Science Translational Medicine

Gilet, T. and Bourouiba, L. (2015) Fluid fragmentation shapes rain-induced foliar disease transmission. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 12:20141092. PDF

Videos (Supplementary Materials)

In the news: MIT NEWS and MIT Spotlight; Nautilus science magazine; Science Magazine, Scientific American and some numbers at Altmetric.

Video features: Splash down

Wagner, C., Bourouiba, L., and McKinley G.H. (2015) An analytic solution for capillary thinning and breakup of FENE-P fluids. Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics. 218:53-61. PDF.

Weitz, J., Stock, C., Wilhelm, S., Bourouiba, L., Coleman, L., Buchan, A., Follows, M., Fuhrman, J., Jover, L., Lennon, J., Middelboe, M., Sonderegger, D., Suttle, C., Taylor, J., Thingstad, T., Wilson, W., and Wommack, K. (2015) A multitrophic model to quantify the effects of marine viruses on microbial food webs and ecosystem processes. International Society of Microbial Ecology Journal. 9:1352–1364. doi:10.1038/ismej.2014.220 PDF

Gilet, T. and Bourouiba, L. (2014) Rain-induced ejection of pathogens from leaves: revisiting the mechanism of splash-on-film using high-speed visualization. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 54:974–984. PDF

Bourouiba, L., Hu, D. L. and Levy, R. (2014) Surface-tension phenomena in organismal biology. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 54:955–958. PDF

Walls, P., Bird, J. and Bourouiba, L. (2014) Moving with bubbles: a review of the interactions between bubbles and the microorganisms that surround them. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 54:1014–1025. PDF

Featured: Oxford University Press Science Blog highlights

Browne, C, Smith?, R.,  and Bourouiba, L. (2014) From regional pulse vaccination to global disease eradication: the case of Poliomyelitis. Journal of Mathematical Biology. 71:215–253. PDF

Bourouiba, L., Dehandschoewercker, E., and Bush, J. W. M. (2014) Violent respiratory events: on coughing and sneezing. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 745: 537-563. PDF

In the news: Science Magazine, MIT news coverage,  MIT Spotlight page, Scientific American, and other press broader coverage, including: The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, The Sydney Herald, Chicago Tribune, Fox News, The Daily Free Press, Le Figaro, Europe1, etc. with more at Altmetric.

Video features: Science Friday

Radio show features: Smiley Virus

Bourouiba, L., Gourley, S., Liu, R., Takekawa, J., and Wu, J. (2014) Avian influenza spread and transmission dynamics. Mathematical modeling of infectious diseases. Chapter 7 in Analyzing and Modeling Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Infectious Diseases. John Wiley & Son. Link and Google Books

Traverso, G., Laken, S., Lu C.-C., Maa, R., Langer, R. and Bourouiba, L. (2013) Fluid fragmentation from hospital toilets PDF. arXiv:1310.5511

In the news: Science Magazine,  FastCoexist

Bourouiba, L. (2013) Understanding the transmission of H5N1. CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Sciences, Nutrition and Natural Resources. 8 (017):1-9. Link or PDF.

Bourouiba, L. and Bush, J. W. M. (2013) Drops and bubbles in the environment. Handbook of Environmental Fluid Dynamics, Volume I: Ed: H.J.S. Fernando, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Book Inc. Book, PDF

Bourouiba, L., Dehandschoewercker, E., and Bush, J. W. M. (2012) The fluid dynamics of coughing and sneezing. Refereed proceedings of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate. 10th Healthy Buildings Conference. Brisbane, AU. Link

Bourouiba, L., Straub, N. D., and Waite, M. L. (2012) Non-local energy transfers in rotating turbulence at intermediate Rossby number. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 690: 129-147. PDF

Bourouiba, L., Gourley, S. A., Liu, R., and Wu, J. (2011) The interaction of migratory birds and domestic poultry and its role in sustaining avian influenza. Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics - Journal of Applied Mathematics. 71: 287-516. PDF

In the news: ScienceDaily, Society of Industrial and  Applied Mathematics nuggets

Bourouiba, L., Teslya, S. L., and Wu, J. (2011) Highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak mitigated by seasonal low pathogenic strains: Insights from dynamic modeling. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 271: 181-201. PDF

Featured in the SIAM Life Science 2014 cover

Bourouiba, L., Jianhong Wu, S. Newman, J. Takekawa, T. Natdorj, N. Batbayar, C. M. Bishop, L. A., Hawkes, P. J. Butler and M. Wikelski (2010) Spatial dynamics of Bar-headed geese migration in the context of H5N1, Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 7: 1627-1639. PDF

Vnvari, V., Atapour, M., Bourouiba, L., Caudillo, L.A., Collinson, S., Johnson, A. , Madras, N., Miasnikof, P, Ramirez Ramirez, L.L. and Sanchez-Bravo, I. (2009) Mathematical models for estimating the risk of vCJD transmission. Proceedings of the OCCAM-Fields-MITAC Biomedical Problem Solving Workshop. Field Institute for Research in Mathematical Science: 81-98. Link

Bourouiba, L. and Straub, N.D. (2009) Nonlocal interactions and condensation in forced rotating turbulence. Refereed proceedings of the 12th EUROMECH European Turbulence Conference: 419-422. Link

Bourouiba, L. (2008) Discreteness and resolution effects in rapidly rotating turbulence. Physical Review E. 78: 056309-1--12. PDF

Bourouiba, L. (2008) Model of truncated fast rotating flow at infinite Reynolds number. Physics of Fluids. 20: 075112-1-14. PDF

Bourouiba, L. (2007) Quantification of the discretization effects in the representation of key inertial-wave interactions in rotating turbulence. Refereed proceedings of the 11th EUROMECH European Turbulence Conference: 679-682. Link

Bourouiba, L. and Bartello, P. (2007) The intermediate Rossby number range and 2D-3D transfers in rotating decaying homogeneous turbulence. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 587: 139-161. PDF