Climate change is the most significant global threat of our time. As our climate changes we experience more frequent extreme weather events including drought, wildfires and hurricanes. While cumulative effects directly impact our environment, they also significantly impact our health and the health of our communities. We require expanded and accelerated efforts to not only define climate and health impacts but to develop strategies to mitigate its health effects. Furthermore, the health effects of climate change are not evenly distributed and are intertwined with social determinants of health (SDOH), exacerbating health equity concerns and further threatening the most at-risk in our communities. Solutions require an “all hands-on deck” approach involving academic institutions, researchers, health providers, community leaders, and policy makers.

Following a comprehensive strategic planning effort, the Duke School of Medicine initiated a Climate and Health Research Initiative (CHeRI). CHeRI was formed to be a central hub for research, translational activities, collaboration, and non-formal learning focused on the intersection of climate change and health. CHERI seeks to foster impactful research that is community-engaged and leverages Duke University faculty and student expertise across the translational research spectrum, facilitating campus-wide faculty interactions, and providing support to multi-disciplinary programs that address critical climate and health concerns.

CHeRI research focuses on four main themes, each covering a unique but interconnected area. CHeRI follows a discovery-to-impact facilitation approach where basic science defines the problem, translational science links this to interventions, implementation science measures the effects of interventions and informs policy strategies to mitigate harm to human health. Importantly, these efforts focus on deep engagement with climate change impacted communities, focusing on concerns identified by these communities to ensure maximal impact.