Clinicians, professors, staff, and students are working at the intersection of climate change and human health, whether through operational changes, education, or advocacy.
As part of Democracy360, UVA’s Environmental Institute with co-sponsors the UVA Office for Sustainability and iTHRIV featured three clinicians sharing how a changing climate is impacting human health outcomes and livelihoods in disproportionate ways.
In a discussion moderated by Karen Johnston (UVA professor of neurology), Ebony Hilton (associate professor of critical care anesthesiology), Irène Mathieu (assistant professor of pediatrics and author), and Matthew Meyer (associate professor of anesthesiology and co-founder of PeriOp Green) all provided expertise on the widening health gap in our community. The doctors highlighted the rise of climate-based stresses on patient health, including respiratory issues, mental health, heat-illness and other environmentally-based pressures. The panel also included a discussion on ways the healthcare system could work to better support afflicted communities, such as highlighting recommendations from those most affected, and centering equitable human health goals in policy innovation.
Participation in this panel is just one of the many ways UVA Health clinicians are striving to address inequities in healthcare. Other clinicians have also made headway in research at the intersection of climate and health. Dr. Samantha Ahdoot, an associate professor in the UVA School of Medicine, was a founding member of the Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action. This group’s mission is to educate and mobilize clinician leaders to bring the health voice to climate policymaking in Virginia. This led to the creation of an affiliated UVA School of Nursing group, the Student Clinicians for Climate Action, founded in 2022.
Dr. Meyer, a steering committee member of the Clinicians for Climate Action, Venkat Kothandaraman, a member of the UVA student chapter, and Greg Winston of Move2Health Equity in Charlottesville will join the climate action nonprofit Community Climate Collaborative for a webinar on Climate and Health on Thursday, November 30 at 5:30 PM (if you cannot make it, the webinar will be recorded).
UVA Health clinicians, students, and other community leaders are building momentum in Virginia around the intersections of health and climate. From advocacy, to education, and even operational changes at the UVA Health system, clinicians are making a difference. You can read about more UVA Health system sustainability initiatives and find ways to get involved here.
Ben Nilson is a 4th-year student majoring in Public Policy & Leadership and Global Sustainability, and an intern in the Office for Sustainability. Ben is interested in environmental justice and policy.