Climate-Health Nexus

Climate-Health Nexus

Our research is dedicated to understanding the complex climate-health nexus, examining the relationships among population dynamics, poverty, women’s autonomy, climate change, and health outcomes. We affirm that girls and women are central to planetary health. As the focus shifts from public health to a planetary health framework, investing in sexual and reproductive autonomy is critical for building resilience against climate change impacts.

Current Projects & Research

Climate and Reproductive Health: Building Resilience for Mothers and Children

We have launched a new collaborative program with Dr. Laura H. Kwong’s Global Environmental Health Solutions Lab, focusing on the intersection of climate change and reproductive health. This interdisciplinary initiative will investigate how extreme heat and other climate hazards affect pregnant and postpartum people, their newborns, and children in low- and middle-income countries, with the goal of strengthening evidence, training, and policy.

The collaboration has achieved significant momentum over the past year, marked by the publication of several key manuscripts:

Building on this foundation, our current and future work is expanding the evidence base through several focused projects, including:

  • Systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the link between heat exposure and adverse birth outcomes.

  • Qualitative research with pregnant women and their communities in Bangladesh to understand localized extreme heat exposure.

  • Narrative reviews exploring the mechanistic pathways that link extreme heat to adverse maternal and fetal health.

Project leads: Ndola Prata; Laura H. Kwong

Research Team:  Cara Schulte; Blake Erhardt-Ohren; Sophie Cotton; Simone Gramling; Karen Weidert 

Recent Publications

Climate–Poverty Connections: Opportunities for synergistic solutions at the intersection of planetary and human well-being

Yusuf Jameel; Carissa M. Patrone; Kristen P. Patterson; Paul C. West
Report, 2022

A Clinic-Based School Readiness Coaching Intervention for Low-Income Latino Children: An Intervention Study

Ndola Prata; Jaime W. Peterson; Jannine Bruce; Kim G. Harley; Lynne C. Huffman; Lisa J. Chamberlain
Journal Article, 2020

Women and Girls at the Center of Planetary Health Solutions

Ndola Prata
Video, 2019

Past Projects and Research

One Health Workforce-Next Generation

The One Health Workforce-Next Generation (2019-2025) was a USAID Funded project based at UC Davis. The One Health approach recognizes the growing connection between the health of animals, people, plants, and the environment. The One Health Workforce-Next Generation project supported the Africa One Health University Network (AFROHUN) and Southeast Asia One Health University Network (SEAOHUN) in building scalable and sustainable systems that trained and empowered human resources to combat complex and dynamic global health threats in the world’s most vulnerable areas for disease emergence. Dr. Prata served as the Gender Lead, driving the integration of gender equity and sensitivity across One Health education, research, and practice. Her focus was on addressing persistent gender disparities in human, animal, and environmental health. Key components of this work included promoting women's leadership, mandating the use of gender-disaggregated data, and implementing gender-responsive policies to ensure equitable participation and outcomes for all genders in global health challenges, such as zoonotic diseases.