Grant Number:	5U2RTW012228-03 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Al-Delaimy, Wael
Organization:	University Of California, San Diego
Project Title:	2/2 Geohealth Hub for Climate Change and Health in the Middle East and North Africa-U.S.
Fiscal Year:	2024

Abstract Climate change is a well-documented reality that is impacting planet earth and its inhabitants. The health impacts of climate change have been studied in terms of heat wave, air pollution, spread of vectors of infectious diseases, and extreme weather events of flooding, drought, wildfires, as well as mental illnesses. One of the regions that will be impacted most from climate change is the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Yet, there is very limited understanding of the human health impacts, the possible policies and interventions to address them, and most importantly limited capacity in research of such policies and interventions. Through this proposal we will establish the GeoHealth Hub for Climate Change Health Impacts in MENA through its two components: The U01 research component (1/2 GeoHealth Hub for Climate Change and Health in the Middle East and North Africa- Jordan) and the U2R training component. The research and training will take place in Jordan, Lebanon, and Morocco. The climate relevant areas of research will focus on heat waves, precipitation and water quality, air pollution, and desert dust pollution. Cost-effectiveness analyses of environmental health policies will be determined to quantify health benefits from interventions through economic models and then informing local governments through dissemination and implementation science. These will be linked to the U2R GeoHealth Hub training application titled “2/2 GeoHealth Hub for Climate Change and Health in the Middle East and North Africa-U.S. The training program will focus on creating a cadre of local experts in one or more of the areas of environmental health in the scope of the U01. The U2R training will build on the ongoing R25 training grant between the two collaborating academic institutions in Jordan (Jordan University of Science and Technology-JUST) and the U.S. (University of California San Diego) (2R25TW010026-06A1). We have assembled an exceptional team of collaborators from the top institutions led by the University of California San Diego and with UC Berkeley, and Harvard University, as well as support of the U.S. CDC. This will be complemented by partnership in the MENA represented by the Jordan University of Science and Technology in Jordan, University of Balamand in Lebanon, Mohamed VI University for Health Sciences in Morocco, and the WHO Regional Eastern Mediterranean Center for Environmental Health Action located in Amman, Jordan. The training program will include short term didactics in the form of summer courses, workshops, U.S visits, and virtual webinars to build individual capacity building. We will build institutional capacity through the addition of tracks in environmental health to existing masters and PhD programs. We will also have mentored one-on-one research training on work related to the U01 aims. We will also aim to influence overall awareness about climate change health impacts among the general health and policy professional community through an annual regional conference to showcase the hub. This will be a sustainable state-of-art hub to inform policy makers about the health risks of climate change and the first of its kind to fill in a major gap in this region.





None