Our Work
Research
Greenhouse gas emissions and anthropogenic air pollution are changing the climate, creating complex spatial and temporal interactions that threaten health on a global scale. Recent advances in satellite remote sensing and machine learning to predict ground conditions present a key opportunity to enable comprehensive study of the multifaceted effects of extreme weather on healthy aging. Leveraging this opportunity, the CHAIRS-C Research Project will combine advanced spatiotemporal exposure modeling with national Medicare data, already in use at Brown, for case-crossover epidemiologic analyses. Our team combines expertise in environmental epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, big data health services research, and advanced biostatistical modeling. The long-term objectives of this project are to improve the quantification of the health impacts (emergency department visits and hospitalizations as well as all-cause mortality) associated with short-term extreme temperature, specific humidity, and fine particulate (PM2.5) air pollution on aging populations; identify vulnerable subpopulations; and construct a framework for the comparison of medications that increase the occurrence of extreme weather-related illnesses. These results will help improve targeted public health interventions and may lead to actionable medication adjustments that modify the adverse effects of extreme weather-related exposures.
Core Lead:
Allan Just
Research Project Lead
Social Determinants of Health and Climate Exposures Vulnerability (SDOH & CEV) Framework:
Factors of health interact with the three elements of vulnerability (adapted from NCA). The left side boxes provide examples of factors of health associated with each of the elements of vulnerability. Increased exposure, increased sensitivity, and reduced adaptive capacity all increase vulnerability at different points in the causal chain from extreme weather drivers to health outcomes (middle boxes). The white box with arrow indicates the potential for intervention in the extreme weather-exposure-health causal chain. The right-side boxes provide an illustrative example from the CHAIRS-C research project.