Climate Change and Urban Health in Latin America (SALURBAL-Climate)

Latin American City

Summary

Since 2017, the Urban Health Collaborative has worked with research institutions and policy and community partners across Latin America to study the ways that urban environments and policies affect health in cities within the region.

Learn more about the first phase of the Salud Urbana en América Latina (SALURBAL) Project here: SALURBAL 2017-2023

In late 2023, the SALURBAL team secured renewed funding from the Wellcome Trust to expand research on climate change and public health in Latin America. “SALURBAL-Climate” addresses a critical need for evidence linking climate change to health impacts across Latin America.

Our research examines the impacts of climate-related exposures, including extreme temperatures, droughts, floods, and air pollution on health and health inequities.

Project Aims

SALURBAL-Climate activities are divided into four aims, which are coordinated by a Data and Methods Core, a Climate and Environment Core, and a Policy and Community Engagement Core.

Aim 1: Generate locally relevant evidence on climate change health and equity impacts.

Aim 1 activities include the expansion of the SALURBAL data resource to additional health outcomes, climate change hazards, and other climate-relevant exposures. This data resource allows the team to explore a series of research questions related to the impacts of climate on health and health inequities at the city and subcity levels across Latin America. To-date, SALURBAL has produced over 120 peer-reviewed publications and numerous briefs, videos, interactive features, and other products to disseminate our research findings. Explore the SALURBAL Products Catalog.

Aim 2: Document health and equity impacts of climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Aim 2 includes the development of Health Impact Assessments for the Carrera Séptima sustainable urban mobility intervention in Bogotá, Colombia, and for BROTAR, an urban reforestation initiative in Santiago, Chile. The team is also developing health impact quantifications, adapting existing tools and approaches to model the health impacts of urban strategies applicable across many cities, including the electrification of public bus fleets.  

Aim 3: Support field building and capacity strengthening in policy-relevant research.

Aim 3 activities include a climate change and urban health journal club, regular webinars and workshops, a fellowship program, and a mentorship program to support. Subscribe to the SALURBAL-Climate newsletter to stay up to date on our capacity strengthening and other activities. 

Aim 4: Support policy action and advocacy for responding to climate change health impacts.

Aim 4 works to ensure that the project’s research and other activities respond to local priorities and that we effectively deliver our findings to policymakers and the public. The team works with journalists and develops trainings for our research team to strengthen capacity for the communication of complex research findings. A Policy Core convenes representatives from all SALURBAL partner institutions to coordinate engagement and dissemination activities, track progress, and identify strategies to maximize the relevance and impact of our research findings.

The SALURBAL Data Resource

SALURBAL-Climate builds upon the project’s unprecedented data resource, which includes data from 11 countries and 371 cities, contributed by dozens of national and international institutions. This resource allows the team to study the role of city and neighborhood-level factors in exacerbating or mitigating the health impacts of climate change, and to compare differences both within and between cities across the region. The SALURBAL Portal allows users to explore publicly available data and a range of project products and outcomes.   

Institutional Partners

SALURBAL-Climate (2023-2028) convenes researchers and staff members from 12 institutions across six countries in Latin America and the United States. Faculty, staff, students, and other trainees participate in multi-country and multi-disciplinary project cores, working groups, and monthly team meetings.

  • University of California at Berkeley, USA
  • University of Los Andes, Colombia
  • University of São Paulo, Brazil
  • Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Brazil
  • Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
  • Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama, Guatemala
  • Cayetano Heredia University, Peru
  • University of Chile, Chile
  • Catholic University of Chile, Chile
  • National Institute of Public Health, Mexico
  • National University of Lanus, Argentina

Drexel-based Team

  • Ana V. Diez Roux, Co-Principal Investigator
  • Usama Bilal, Co-Investigator
  • Autumn Ciarrocchi, Deputy Director of Administration
  • María Fernanda Cruz, Senior Project Manager
  • Katy Indvik, Senior Climate and Policy Engagement Manager
  • Josiah Kephart, Co-Investigator
  • Mariana Lazo, Co-Investigator
  • Ran Li, Data Scientist
  • Steve Melly, GIS Specialist
  • Kari Moore, Director, Data and Analysis
  • Alex Quistberg, Co-Investigator
  • Brisa Sanchez, Co-Investigator
  • Goro Yamada, Senior Scientist
  • Maryia Bakhtsiyarava, Co-Investigator
  • Juan Carlos Figueroa, PhD Student
  • Diana Higuera, PhD Student
  • Jessica Uruchima, Analytics Engineer
  • Ana Lucia Peralta, PhD Student
  • Leah Schinasi
  • Natalie Rodrigues, Data Analyst
  • Carolina Rendón, Communications Coordinator
  • Aanchal Totwani, Graduate Student Assistant
  • Derek Weix, Statistician

Learn More

Visit the SALURBAL website

The UHC has more research on climate change and health happening at the Drexel Climate Change and Urban Health Research Center.