Airborne infectious diseases remain a major global health threat. The primary vector for their transmission is coarse and fine droplets, known as bioaerosols, exhaled from infected individuals during natural respiratory maneuvers, such as breathing, coughing and sneezing. Unfortunately, our current knowledge of the mechanisms by which these exhaled bioaerosols are formed in the lungs is in its infancy. In particular, progress in this field has been hindered by the complex structure of the

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... atory fluid and the resulting lack of understanding of the biophysical properties of the fluid. Graduate College ii To my beloved parents, Azzam Hamed and Bahia Nazer, and my brothers, Raed, Rami and Fadi for their continuous support and patience iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Jennifer Fiegel for her unconditional support and help from the initial to the final level. This work would not have been possible without her. I have gained tremendous knowledge and experience from interacting with her and being part of her research group. I also would like to thank my committee members, Drs.