Awareness Against Health Threats of Climate Change

AWARE

Call

  • CEH2

Project Website

https://sph.umd.edu/aware

Principal Investigator

Amir Sapkota, Yu-Chun Wang, Sari Kovats, Neville Sweijd, Janine Wichmann, Meghnath Dhimal, Veena Iyer, Azizah, Thu Dang Thi Anh

Partners

University of Maryland, Chung Yuan Christian University, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Airlangga University, University of Pretoria, Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, International Climate Development Institute, Gugah Nurani Indonesia, Applied Centre for Climate & Earth System Science, Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, Nepal Health Research Council

Funders

  • NRF (National Research Foundation), NSF (National Science Foundation), NSTC, UKRI (UK Research and Innovation)

Project Objective

Building on the success of CEH-1, the AWARE consortium under CEH-2 will expand earlier work of AWARD-APR to enhance early warning systems (EWS) for diarrheal disease in South Africa, Indonesia, and India alongside Nepal, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The project will integrate machine learning into the EWS to improve predictive capacity, and evaluate the use of over-the-counter medication data as a novel proxy for recent diarrheal disease incidence. Collaborating with local students and communities, the consortium will co-develop a mobile app for the EWS in local languages, train female community health volunteers in Nepal and engage with NGOs in South Africa, Indonesia, India, and Taiwan. Through these activities, AWARE aims to strengthen community resilience against health threats of climate change in resource limited settings.

Call Objective

This CRA focused on the nexus of Climate, Environment, and Health to address an unmet need to promote, mobilize, and establish an inclusive, transdisciplinary funding scheme, through the preservation and celebration of diverse communities, research topics, ecosystems, and creative transformative solutions. One goal for this CRA is to create a comprehensive culture shift through education, research, service, and advocacy to inspire a world where all animals and humans can thrive — through the integration of human medicine, veterinary medicine, and environmental science — and by adapting and protecting Earth’s natural systems for generations to come. Projects address at least one of the three call themes: 1) Decision-science of environmental behavior and implementation, 2) Food, Environment, and Biological Security, 3) Climate Risks to Ecosystems & Populations.

Region

  • Africa, Asia, Europe, North America

Country

  • India, Indonesia, Nepal, South Africa, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States of America (USA), Vietnam

Duration

3 years

Call Date

May 2023

Project Award Date

January 2025