The HPRU in Environmental Change and Health provides research to support decision-making relating to the impacts of climate change and other environmental changes that affect human health.
Our research focuses on the following topic areas:
- Housing and climate change
- Indicators of climate change impacts and responses
- Food systems and agriculture
- Flooding and coastal change
- Heat, drought, wildfires
- Green and blue space
- Vector-borne disease and other infections
- The health benefits of low carbon development
- Risks from climate change impacts external to the UK
- Threats to planetary health beyond climate change
- Air pollution interventions
About the NIHR HPRU in Environmental Change and Health
The NIHR HPRU Environmental Change and Health is one of 14 HPRUs across England, part of a £58.7 million investment by the NIHR to protect the health of the nation. The NIHR HPRU Environmental Change and Health is a partnership between UKHSA and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in collaboration with University College London and the Met Office.
The NIHR HPRU in Environmental Change and Health undertakes a programme of research and training to improve understanding of the impacts on health of climate change and other environmental challenges, the actions needed to protect health, and the opportunities for improving health of policies aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
The research is carried out under three themes (Impacts and Monitoring; Responses and Health Protection; and Interventions and Interactions) through a set of specific research topics: housing and climate change; indicators for tracking the impact and responses to climate change; the spread of climate sensitive diseases; floods and coastal erosion; heat, droughts and wildfires; the benefits of increasing natural vegetation and water bodies in cities; environmental and health benefits from food and agriculture policy; threats to health from disturbance of the Earth’s natural systems; threats to climate change events external to the UK; and the integrated analysis of policies for health and sustainability. In addition, cross-cutting research addresses the modelling of population impacts, cost-benefit analysis, health inequalities and behaviour change.
About HPRUs
Each NIHR HPRU undertakes high quality research that is used by UKHSA to keep the public safe from current and emerging public health threats.
The NIHR HPRUs focus on collaboration and knowledge sharing, and play a pivotal role in maintaining and growing UKHSA’s scientific expertise and future workforce. The multidisciplinary centres of excellence also deliver responsive research to tackle emerging or potential public health emergencies.
NIHR Health Protection Research Units (HPRUs) undertake high quality research that enhances the ability of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to protect the public’s health and minimise the health impact of emergencies.
About the NIHR
NIHR's mission is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. The NIHR was established in 2006 and is primarily funded by the Department of Health and Social Care.
Working in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders, patients and the public, the NIHR delivers and enables world-class research that transforms people’s lives, promotes economic growth and advances science.
- Collaborating institutions
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LSHTM (Leading institution)
- Lead: Professor Shakoor Hajat – Professor of Global Environmental Health, Department of Public Health, Environments and Society
Met Office
- Lead: Dr Christophe Sarran – Health Research Scientist
UK Health Security Agency
- Lead: Professor Raquel Duarte-Davidson - Head of Chemicals and Environmental Effects Department and NPIS Commissioning Services, Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental (RCE) Hazards
UCL
- Lead: Professor Mike Davies - Professor of Building Physics and the Environment, Institute of Environmental Design and Engineering
- Investigators
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LSHTM
- John Cairns – Professor of Health Economics, Department of Health Services Research and Policy
- Antonio Gasparrini – Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Environments and Society
- Rosemary Green – Professor in Sustainability, Nutrition and Health, Department of Population Health
- Genevieve Hadida - Research Assistant in Food Systems, Health and Sustainability
- Andy Haines - Professor of Environmental Change and Public Health, Department of Public Health, Environments and Society
- Shakoor Hajat – Professor of Global Environmental Health, Department of Public Health, Environments and Society
- Emma Hutchinson – Assistant Professor, Environmental Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Environments and Society
- Sari Kovats - Associate Professor, Department of Public Health, Environments and Society
- Peninah Murage – Assistant Professor, Environmental Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Environments and Society
- James Milner – Assistant Professor, Mathematical Modelling, Department of Public Health, Environments and Society
- Ai Milojevic – Assistant Professor in Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Environments and Society
- Pauline Scheelbeek – Associate Professor in Planetary Health & Nutritional Epidemiology, Department of Population Health
- Grace Turner – Research Fellow, Environmental Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Environments and Society
Met Office
- Kim Eastaugh - Applied Climate Scientist
- Christophe Sarran – Health Research Scientist
UK Health Security Agency
- Richard Amlôt - Behavioural Scientist, Behavioural Science Team, Behavioural Science Team, Emergency Response Department
- Katya Brooks – Principal Environmental Public Health Scientist, Extreme Events and Health Protection
- Kerry Broom - Knowledge Mobilisation Manager, Centre for Radiation, RCE
- Holly Carter - Behavioural Scientist, Behavioural Science Team, Emergency Response Department
- Rhiannon Cordiner - Extreme Events and Health Protection
- Raquel Duarte-Davidson - HPRU Co-Director, Head of Chemicals and Environmental Effects Department and NPIS Commissioning Services Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards
- Neena George - Environmental Epidemiology
- Emma Gillingham - Senior Environmental Scientist, Climate Change and Health Group, RCE
- Angela Hands - Public Health Programme Manager, Healthy Places Team, Health Improvement
- Kayleigh Hansford - Senior Medical Entomologist, Medical Entomology & Zoonoses Ecology Group
- Neelam Iqbal - Epidemiology & Surveillance Scientist, part of the Environmental Epidemiology Group
- Jennifer Israelsson - Senior Environmental Public Health Scientist
- Agnes Jung - Senior Emergency Preparedness Manager, Extreme Events and Health Protection
- Richard Kopnyicky - Emergency Preparedness Manager, Extreme Events and Health Protection
- Giovanni Leonardi - Consultant in Public Health and Head of the Environmental Epidemiology Group
- Helen Macintyre - Senior Environmental and Public Health Scientist, Climate Change and Health Group, RCE
- Helen McAuslane – Consultant in Public Health
- Jolyon Medlock - Head of Medical Entomology, Medical Entomology & Zoonoses Ecology Group
- Christina Mitsakou – Senior Environmental Public Health Scientist
- Rajinder Pnaiser - Environmental Public Health Scientist, Extreme Events and Health Protection
- Anusha Rajamani - Environmental Public Health Scientist, Extreme Events and Health Protection
- Priyanjali Ratwatte - Behavioural Scientist, Climate Change and Health Group, RCE, and Behavioural Science Team
- Ruksana Rimi - Senior Environmental Public Health Scientist
- Agostinho Sousa – Consultant in Public Health Medicine – Extreme Events and Health Protection
- John Thornes - Principal Climate Change Scientist, Climate Change and Health Group, RCE
- Helena Wehling - Behavioural Scientist, Behavioural Science Team, Behavioural Science Team
- Dale Weston - Behavioural Scientist, Behavioural Science Team
UCL
- Mike Davies – Professor of Building Physics and Environment, Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering
- Anna Mavrogianni – Associate Professor in Sustainable Building and Urban Design, Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering
- Eleni Oikonomou – Research Associate in Energy and Building Modelling, Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering
- Giorgos Petrou – Research Fellow in Building Physics and Urban Modelling (Environmental Change and Health), Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering
- Phil Symonds – Lecturer in Machine Learning for Smart Buildings and Cities, Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering
- Yan Wang - Research Fellow in Indoor Environmental Modelling
- Nici Zimmermann – Associate Professor, Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering
- PhD students
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- Luis Baptista Mieiro - Unplanned hospital care use by older people in England: an analysis of the impact of climate hazards
- Rebecca Cole - Research project: Heatwaves and public health: evaluating the effectiveness of heat vulnerability indices
- Esther Curtin
- Sarah Najera-Espinosa - Transitioning towards more nutritious, affordable, and sustainable diets in the UK: exploring the role of novel plant-based foods
- Ross Thompson - Heatwaves and clinical vulnerability in England; development of a risk stratification tool for use in primary care
- Engagement
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The HPRU has a Public Involvement and Engagement Group, known as PLANET (Public Led & Knowledge Engagement Team).
Researchers meet regularly with PLANET members to discuss research planning and the dissemination of results.
The Public Involvement and Engagement activities are coordinated by Dr Sari Kovats, Ms Grace Turner, Dr Peninah Murage and Dr Giorgos Petrou.
Read our Public Involvement and Engagement Strategy.
PLANET Newsletters
- Feb 2021
- April 2021
- July 2021
- September 2021
- December 2021
- March 2022
- July 2022
- November 2022
- March 2023
For further information contact Dr Sari Kovats.
- External Advisory Board
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The HPRU researchers are advised by an international External Advisory Board.
Its membership is drawn from academia, public health, the private sector and the PLANET group.
It is chaired by Professor Glenn McGregor, Professor of Climatology and Principal of Ustinov College, Durham University.
For further information, contact HPRU Coordinator Yolanda Fernandez.
- Knowledge mobilisation
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Knowledge mobilisation is about bringing together different communities to share knowledge to catalyse change, particularly health protection policy and practice. Knowledge mobilisation is a two-way process which enables advances in health protection research to create benefits for the public; supporting research informed and cost-effective decision-making by policy makers, public health practitioners, the public, and other stakeholders.
Read our knowledge mobilisation strategy.
- Housing and climate change
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Contact: Mike Davies
This research investigates the impact of housing (building-related) climate change mitigation and adaptation measures with specific focus on critical changes in ventilation parameters and the balance of effects on health arising from changes to indoor air quality as well as adaptations to heat, especially in care homes.
- Indicators of climate change impacts and responses
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Contact: Giovanni Leonardi
This research focuses on indicators of climate change and health responses and preparedness, as well as the data sources and methods for tracking the effectiveness of policy actions. It also investigates a number of methodological issues, including the attribution of changes in health to weather/climate change and methods for tracking the ancillary effects of the low carbon transition.
- Food systems and agriculture
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Contact: Revati Phalkey
Climate change is increasingly affecting global foods systems and the agricultural industry, while the food and agriculture sector is responsible for 20% to 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Research under this heading will assess the potential effects on health of lower GHG diets in the UK and the current and future implications of climate change on agriculture and food systems.
- Flooding and coastal change
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Contact: Sari Kovats
Flooding and coastal change present threats to life and well-being as well as economic disruption. The UK coast is highly vulnerable to climate change due changes to wave height, increased frequency of storm surges, sea level rise and potential accelerated coastal erosion. The impacts of future flood impacts may disproportionally affect disadvantage communities. We are reviewing adaptation planning to consider who benefits and who is potentially disadvantaged by specific measures and policies.
- Heat, drought, wildfires
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Contact: Shakoor Hajat
Research under this heading will examine variations in heat risk to health over time and spatially, as well as behavioural insights and risk communication relating to extreme hot and cold weather events and the health impacts of droughts.
- Green and blue space
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Contact: Angela Hands
We are also undertaking research to map the connections between green/blue space and health and approaches to interventions. Specific projects will include an evidence review of the association between access to greenspace and health inequalities, how green/blue space is considered in English local authority planning policy and a qualitative study to gather behavioural insights relating to actions by local authority planning officers.
- Vector-borne disease and other infections
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Contact: Jolyon Medlock
This research examines issues relating to vector-borne disease (VBD) and other infectious disease risks in Europe and the UK under climate change. Disease transmission of VBDs may be influenced by environmental and ecological factors that affected by changes in weather and climate. Specific sub-projects will focus on climate suitability of the UK for Hyalomma species as well as investigate how recent and future climate might be determining enzootic transmission risk areas for tick-borne encephalitis. Work has also been undertaken on weather and seasonal factors in coronavirus transmission to inform control measures for COVID-19.
- The health benefits of low carbon development
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Contact: Paul Wilkinson
We focus on the development and application of quantitative models to assess the impact on population health of policies for healthy sustainable development, including changes to air pollution, active transport, diet and extreme temperatures. Our work highlights the potential health benefits (the ‘co-benefits’) and potential unintended adverse effects of the low carbon transition. An important aspect of this work is to assess impacts on socio-economic inequalities.
- Risks from climate change impacts external to the UK
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Contact: Giovanni Leonardi
Topic 9 will focus on potential impacts in the UK of climate change-related impacts occurring beyond our shores, including impacts relating to food supplies, migration pressures and the spread of infectious diseases.
- Threats to planetary health beyond climate change
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Contact: Paul Wilkinson
This last topic will consider other threats to planetary ‘boundaries’, including biodiversity loss, and the potential implications for human health. Most of this research will be undertaken in the final year of the HPRU.
Other research
Other research is focussing on air pollution interventions (contact: John Thornes, Christina Mitsakou,) and the effect of air pollution on cognitive development (contact: Ai Milojevic). Analyses are also being undertaken in support of the UK’s fourth Climate Change Risk assessment (CCRA4), due for completion in 2027 and will inform the fourth NAP (National Adaptation Programme) for the period 2028-2032.
- 2023
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- Gillingham EL, Medlock JM, Macintyre H, Phalkey R. Modelling the current and future temperature suitability of the UK for the vector Hyalomma marginatum (Acari: Ixodidae). Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2023 Mar;14(2):102112. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2022.102112
- Milner J, Turner G, Ibbetson A, Eustachio Colombo P, Green R, Dangour AD, Haines A, Wilkinson P. Impact on mortality of pathways to net zero greenhouse gas emissions in England and Wales: a multisectoral modelling study. Lancet Planet Health. 2023 Jan 24:S2542-5196(22)00310-2. doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00310-2
- Healthy housing: indoor environmental quality report update. April 2023
- Local Planning for the Care of Older People during Extreme Weather: a survey of NHS Integrated Care Boards
- Brooks K, Landeg O, Kovats S, Sewell M, O'Connell E. Heatwaves, hospitals and health system. BMJ Open 2023;13:e068298. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-068298
- Cole R, Hajat S, Heaviside C, Murrage P, Davies M, Wilkinson P. The contribution of demographic changes to future heat-related health burdens under climate change scenarios. Environment International, Volume 173, 2023, 107836.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2023.107836
- Taylor, J., McLeod, R., Petrou, G., Hopfe, C., Mavrogianni, A., Castaño-Rosa, R., Pelsmakers, S. and Lomas, K. (2023). ‘Ten questions concerning residential overheating in Central and Northern Europe’. Building and Environment, 234, p. 110154. doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2023.110154
- Hajat S, Proestos Y, Araya-Lopez J-L, Economou T, Lelieveld J. Current and future trends in heat-related mortality in the MENA region: a health impact assessment with bias-adjusted statistically downscaled CMIP6 (SSP-based) data and Bayesian inference. Lancet Planetary Health. 2023 Apr;7(4):e282-e290. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(23)00045-1
- 2022
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- Ratwatte P, Wehling H, Kovats S, Landeg O, Weston D. Factors associated with older adults' perception of health risks of hot and cold weather event exposure: A scoping review. Front Public Health. 2022 Nov 10;10:939859. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.939859
- Wan K, Feng Z, Hajat S, Doherty RM. Temperature-related mortality and associated vulnerabilities: evidence from Scotland using extended time-series datasets. Environ Health. 2022 Oct 25;21(1):99. doi: 10.1186/s12940-022-00912-5
- Thompson R, Landeg O, Kar-Purkayastha I, Hajat S, Kovats S, O'Connell E. Heatwave Mortality in Summer 2020 in England: An Observational Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 May 18;19(10):6123. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19106123
- Petrou G, Hutchinson E, Mavrogianni A, Milner J, Macintyre H, Phalkey R, Hsu SC, Symonds P, Davies M, Wilkinson P. Home energy efficiency under net zero: time to monitor UK indoor air. BMJ. 2022 May 9;377:e069435. doi: 10.1136/bmj-2021-069435
- Clegg M, Thornes JE, Banerjee D, Mitsakou C, Quaiyoom A, Delgado-Saborit JM, Phalkey R. Intervention of an Upgraded Ventilation System and Effects of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Air Quality at Birmingham New Street Railway Station. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jan 5;19(1):575. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19010575
- Gong J, Part C, Hajat S. Current and future burdens of heat-related dementia hospital admissions in England. Environ Int. 2022 Jan 15;159:107027. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.107027. Epub 2021 Dec 7.
- Hansford KM, Wheeler BW, Tschirren B, Medlock JM. Questing Ixodes ricinus ticks and Borrelia spp. in urban green space across Europe: A review. Zoonoses and Public Health. 2022; 69(3), pp. 153–166 https://doi.org/10.1111/zph.12913
- Gasparrini A, Masselot P, Scortichini M, Schneider R, Mistry MN, Sera F, Macintyre H, Phalkey R, Vicedo-Cabrera AM. Small-area assessment of temperature-related mortality risks in England and Wales: a case time series analysis. Lancet Planetary Health. 2022; 6(7), pp. e557–e564. 10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00138-3
- Prichard GC, Sangkharat K, Fisher PA, Thornes JE, Phalkey R, Pope FD. Differential health responses to climate change projections in three UK cities as measured by ambulance dispatch data. Environmental Advances. 2022; 7, 100146 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envadv.2021.100146
- 2021
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- Housing energy efficiency and indoor air quality: radon exposure
- Macintyre H. L., C. Heaviside, X.-M. Cai and R. Phalkey: The winter urban heat island: impacts on cold-related mortality in a highly urbanized European region for present and future climate Environ Internatl 2021; 154: 106530 doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2021.106530
- Macintyre H. L., C. Heaviside, X.-M. Cai and R. Phalkey: Comparing temperature-related mortality impacts of cool roofs in winter and summer in a highly urbanized European region for present and future climate. Environ Internatl 2021; 154: 106606 doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2021.106606
- Nichols, G., Gillingham, E., Macintyre, H., et al. Coronavirus seasonality, respiratory infections and weather. BMC Infectious Diseases (2021) preprint 10.21203/rs.3.rs-99539/v1
- Ibbetson A, Milojevic A, Mavrogianni A, Oikonomou E, Jain N, Tsoulou I, Petrou G, Gupta R, Davies M, Wilkinson P. Mortality benefit of building adaptations to protect care home residents against heat risks in the context of uncertainty over loss of life expectancy from heat. Climate Risk Management 2021; 32:100307 ISSN 2212-0963 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2021.100307
- Milojevic A, Dutey-Magni P, Dearden L, Wilkinson P Lifelong exposure to air pollution and cognitive development in young children: the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Environ Res Lett 2021; 16(5): doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/ac092c
- Turner G, Green R, Alae-Carew C, Dangour AD. The association of dimensions of fruit and vegetable access in the retail food environment with consumption; a systematic review. Global Food Security 2021; 29:100528 (ISSN 2211-9124). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2021.100528
- Elliot AJ, Bennett CD, Hughes HE, Morbey RA, Todkill D, Thompson R, Landeg O, OConnell E, Seltzer M, Lang W, Edeghere O, Oliver I. Spike in Asthma Healthcare Presentations in Eastern England during June 2021: A Retrospective Observational Study Using Syndromic Surveillance Data. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Nov 24;18(23):12353. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182312353
- Scheelbeek PFD, Dangour AD, Jarmul S, et al. The effects on public health of climate change adaptation responses: a systematic review of evidence from low- and middle-income countries. Environ Res Lett. 2021 Jul;16(7):073001. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/ac092c
- 2020
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- Todkill D, de Jesus Colon Gonzalez F, Morbey R, et al. Environmental factors associated with general practitioner consultations for allergic rhinitis in London, England: a retrospective time series analysis. BMJ Open 2020; 10:e036724 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-036724
- Robin C, Beck C, Armstrong B, David Waite T, G James Rubin, English National Study of Flooding and Health Study Group, Isabel Oliver, Impact of flooding on health-related quality of life in England: results from the National Study of Flooding and Health. European J Publ Health 2020; 30(5):942–948 https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckaa049
- Mulchandani, R., Armstrong, B., Beck, C.R. et al. The English National Cohort Study of Flooding & Health: psychological morbidity at three years of follow up. BMC Public Health 2020; 20:32 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-8424-3
- Thornes JE, Hickman A, Baker C et al. Proposed interventions to reduce noxious air pollution at Birmingham New Street station. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – Transport, https://doi.org/10.1680/jtran.19.00061
2022/23
- PLANET workshop, 30 May
- HPRU in Environmental Change and Health Annual Conference
2021/22
- Webinar - Indoor air quality and health under the path to Net Zero, 30th June 2021, 3:00-3:45 pm
- Stakeholder workshop, Indicators of climate risks and climate action in Local Authorities, 18th May 2021
- PLANET Workshop, 9th June
- PLANET Workshop, 7th September
2020/21
- Workshop - Housing, indoor air quality and climate change, 29 March 2021
- Annual symposium, 22nd March 2021
- PLANET Workshop, 15th February
- PLANET Workshop, 15th March
News and media
- 23 February 2022. Andy Haines awarded the 2022 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement
- 24 February 2021. Previous HPRU Director, Sari Kovats, becomes recipient of the Burtoni Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the science of adaptation to climate change
Upcoming HPRU events
- Webinar, Indoor air quality and health under the path to Net Zero, 30th June 2021, 3-3.45 pm
Links to other events
- CDC Climate and Health Webinar series
- 2021 Global Conference on Health and Climate Change, 6-7 November 2021 Glasgow, UK - Special Focus on Climate Justice
- PHE Climate Change, Health, and the 2030 Agenda
- Public Health England and the COP26 Unit will host a series of panel discussions monthly from July to December exploring horizon questions for climate change impacts and responses within the health sector. Each panel will include an academic researcher and representatives from policy and practice. The first session will focus on inequalities, followed by sessions on nutrition, infectious diseases, disasters, mental health, and climate resilience within health systems. Find out more about the events and book to attend.
Other NIHR Health Protection Research Units
- Health Impact of Environmental Hazards at King’s College London
- Behavioural Science and Evaluation at University of Bristol
- Emerging and Zoonotic Infections at University of Liverpool
- Respiratory Infections at Imperial College London
- Emergency Preparedness and Response at King’s College London
- Immunisation at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- NIHR Public Health Research Programme
- Committee on Climate Change (CCC) UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2022
- Committee on Climate Change (CCC) UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2017