Climate, Air Pollution, Nature and Urban Health

The program aims to strengthen the evidence base in the field of the health effects of climate change and urban exposures, and assess the health co-benefits of climate action. We focus on exposures such as noise, air pollution, temperature and green spaces in outcomes such as premature mortality, cardiovascular and respiratory health and cognitive function. This research is complemented by computational modelling of global climate variations and tipping points and their impact on health. The ultimate objective is to support healthy (urban) living, and forecast and mitigate the health impacts of climate change.

We use tools such as geographical information systems, satellite data and smart phone technology for exposure assessment, participatory citizen science, health impact assessment, computational modelling, and forecasting. Our international leadership extends to areas such as health co-benefits of climate action, green spaces and health, air pollution epidemiology, health impact of urban and transport planning and citizen science and modelling climate variations in infectious disease transmission.

Program Sub-Areas

Climate and Health

• Lead: Xavier Rodó (XR).
• Projects: CLIMSOCTRYPBOL-EULAC (XR), ARBOTHAI (XR), TipESM (XR), PREPARE-TID (XR), ODESSS (XR).
• People: Ivana Cvijanovic, Leonardo López, Sílvia Borràs.

We are researching the Earth's Tipping Points and their critical thresholds in relation to the ongoing climate change. Special attention is paid to the Arctic and Antarctic sea-ice collapses, the Amazon and other tropical forests' dieback, climate extremes (e.g., heatwaves, droughts) and the regime shift in ENSO in the Pacific. Consequent effects on human health are being studied and modelled, as we work towards developing a new generation of computational models for enhancing prediction of health extremes and climate-sensitive diseases (CSID) and towards improvement of their early-warning systems.

We investigate in a climate change context, the role of airborne microbes and aerosols’ chemistry as key determinants of human health.
 

Adaptation, Mitigation and Health

• Lead: Cathryn Tonne (CT) and Joan Ballester (JB).
• Projects: EARLY-ADAPT (JB), HHS-EWS (JB), FORECAST-AIR (JB), INSPENCAT (JB), ADATES (JB), EDIPI (JB), CATALYSE (CT), Lancet Countdown in Europe (CT), CIDACS-CLIMA (OR).
• People: Mark Nieuwenhuijsen (MN), Otavio Ranzani (OR), Guillaume Chevance, Matilda van den Bosch, Cristina O'Callaghan.

The Climate, Air Pollution, Nature and Urban Health programme is performing interdisciplinary studies:

• Analysing the drivers of reduced vulnerability and adaptation, focusing on vulnerable populations, estimating the effectiveness of health adaptation measures, and developing observational and monitoring tools linking climate, health and socioeconomic drivers and impacts, generating the basic knowledge required to develop surveillance platforms, early warning systems, climate change projections and detection and attribution assessments.
• Analysing the implications of climate change mitigation strategies on health, particularly through exposure pathways including air and noise pollution, nature access, physical activity and road traffic injury.

Air Pollution and Health

• Lead: Payam Dadvand (PD) and Xavier Basagaña (XB).
• Projects: FRONTIER (PD), EARLY-ADAPT (JB), FORECAST-AIR (JB), INSPENCAT (JB), CATALYSE (CT), UBDPolicy, ATHLETE, IMAP, ONES, EMBRYORAD (MG), RI-URBANS (XB), INCHILDHEALTH (XB), TwinAIR (XR, SB, NM).
• PIs: Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Michelle Turner, Cathryn Tonne, Mònica Guxens (MG), Joan Ballester (JB), Otavio Ranzani (OR), Xavier Rodó (XR), Ioar Rivas, Natalie Mueller (NM), Sílvia Borràs (SB), Jordi Sunyer, Judith Garcia-Aymerich, Juan Ramón González, Eider M Arenaza-Urquijo, Sarah Koch.
• Postdocs: Anne-Claire Binter, Mònica López-Vicente, Carmen Peuters, Stefan Sieber, Anna Alari.
• Pre-docs: Michelle Kusters, Alan Domínguez, Vanessa Nogueira, Andrea Pistillo, Yana Luo, Ryan Diver.

The aim of the research area is to quantify the effects of air pollution exposure on human health over the lifecourse. Towards this aim, our research focuses on different aspects, including: improved air pollution exposure assessment; the study of the short-term and long-term effects of air pollution exposure on different health outcomes from the prenatal life until older agestill elderly; the study of the health effects of different air pollution constituents and sources; and the estimation of the health benefits of air pollution abatement strategies.  

Nature and Health

• Lead: Jill Litt.
• Projects: RECETAS, Resonate, GreenME, GoGreenRoutes, GoGreenNext, UBDPolicy.
• PIs: Jill Litt, Margarita Triguero-Mas, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Payam Dadvand, Guillaume Chevance, Matilda van den Bosch, Judith Garcia-Aymerich, Sarah Koch.
• Postdocs: Monica Ubalde, Albert Bach, Celia Santos Tapia, Giulia Sonetti, Anna Bornioli.
• Technicians: Svea Busse, Tamara García Malo, Laura Hidalgo, Ines Valls.

The objectives of the nature and health area are to: 1) examine causal mechanisms between nature exposure and human health and wellbeing using state-of-the-art research methods and 2) inform evidence-based practice and policy for health care practitioners and urban planners in using natural spaces in health promotion as well as disease prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. Through large-scale and global initiatives, we are advancing descriptive, epidemiological, experimental methods, and systematic review expertise to generate knowledge about nature’s impact on human health across the life course and to understand mediating and moderating factors. We apply interdisciplinary frameworks and engage diverse stakeholders across sectors, drawing on the disciplines of psychology, sociology, medicine, epidemiology, natural sciences, urban and landscape planning, design, and computer science, to co-create theory-informed approaches and foster cooperation and communication to realise broader impacts.

Core projects of the Nature-Health group are bridging nature-based solutions and health systems to address loneliness, quality of life, metabolic syndrome and the policies and practices to advance evidence-based solutions, such as nature-based therapy and nature-based social prescribing. 

Highlighted projects: 

• RECETAS
• RESONATE
• GoGreenRoutes
• CORDIS (GoGreenNext)
• UBDPolicy

Urban Health

• Lead: Mark Nieuwenhuijsen.
• Projects: EXPANSE, UBDPolicy (MN, NM, CT), ATHLETE, EMBRYORAD (MG), ELHNA (MG), RESONATE, BGI-Actionable (NM).
• PIs: Cathryn Tonne, Mònica Guxens (MG), Natalie Mueller, Payam Dadvand, Jill Litt, Matilda van den Bosch, Joan Ballester (JB), Judith Garcia-Aymerich, Eider M Arenaza-Urquijo,  Sarah Koch.
• Postdocs: Federica Montana, Anne-Claire Binter, Mònica López-Vicente.
• Predocs: Sasha Khomenko, Evelise Pereira, Tamara Iungman, Georgia Dyer, Daniel Velazquez, Ana Ramos, Jet Opbroek, Esmée Essers, Michelle Kusters, Laura Granés, Yana Luo.
• Technicians: Marta Cirach (GIS), Antonia Valentin (GIS).

The aim of the research area is to assess holistically the effects and impacts of urban and transport planning related exposures such as air pollution, noise, green space, temperature, light at night and physical activity on urban health.  We use exposure assessment, epidemiological and health impact assessment methods to quantify the exposure levels, health effects and impacts. We use GIS, satellite data and smartphone data for exposure assessment. We evaluate urban interventions and policies to provide quantitative information for policy and decision making. The research area feeds directly into the ISGlobal translation initiative Urban planning, Environment and Health. The ultimate objective is to promote healthy urban living.

The work is based around EC funded projects such as the UBDPolicy, which utilises a dataset of nearly 1000 cities to assess the health burden and effective policy interventions, EXPANSE, ATHLETE, etc.