News

Sixteen Atlanta-area residents participated in a 4-session dialogue series from September 2024 through April 2025 to come up with strategies to address heat-related illness as experienced in the city. Through these sessions, led by the CHART Community Engagement Core, participants explored the issues related to heat exposures and came up with community-based solutions to reduce the impact of heat-related illness on metro-Atlanta residents. The two documents linked below share more…

Congratulations to CHART’s graduating students! Our center is grateful to have had an amazing team of graduate students supporting center research, community engagement, and pilot grant projects. We’re excited to keep a few of these students on our team over the summer and look forward to seeing all that they accomplish next!  Emily Wilhelm, MPH Environmental Health   CHART Research Core  “At CHART, I had the opportunity to engage with participants and support data collection through participant recruitment,…

Our Deputy Director, Dr. Noah Scovronick, was invited to talk about CHART’s work on heat and community health on GALEO’s El Pueblo Unido podcast, whose mission is to engage, empower, and uplift the Latino community across the state. Link to episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm4P1397DfI

From Sensors to Insights: Quantifying Daily Heat and Air Pollution Exposure in Atlanta — CHART Methods & Early Insights   This webinar was held on April 28, 2026   Access the recording of the session HERE   On-demand evaluation survey    Description: The urban infrastructure found in cities not only puts people at risk of extreme heat exposure during the intense summer months but also at increased risk of exposure to air pollution. This webinar will dive into CHART’s community-based research utilizing wearable sensors to quantify real-world exposure to heat and air pollution in daily life in Atlanta, including wearable-based sleep metrics. The webinar will touch on CHART’s effort to recruit participants, collect and analyze…

A global shift toward cleaner energy could prevent more than 11 million deaths worldwide in the coming decades, according to a new series published in The Lancet. The authors highlight how energy access—and the type of energy people rely on—has profound consequences for human health, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The series, “Energy & Health in Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries,” examines how energy poverty, household fuel use, and electricity access affect…

Heat and Emergency Department Visits: Findings from CHART’s Research Project Core  This webinar was held on March 31, 2026  Access the recording of the session HERE  On-demand evaluation survey  Description: Heat waves, particularly in urban environments within cities, are increasing in frequency, intensity, and severity as summer temperatures continue to rise. Specific populations are particularly at risk. In CHART, we are identifying factors that affect health outcomes related to heat, particularly health conditions that affect heat-sensitivity…

Assessing the combined effects of air pollution and climate change enhanced urban heat to the health of outdoor informal workers   Dr. Olivia Ginn (UGA) and colleagues have been working in Bolivia on their pilot, “Assessing the combined effects of air pollution and climate change enhanced urban heat to the health of outdoor informal workers.”  The aim of this study is to assess the potential health impacts on outdoor informal workers…

  Integrating Extreme Weather Preparedness for Families into a Clinical and Public Health Setting  This webinar was held on February 3, 2026 Access the recording of the session HERE  On-demand evaluation survey  Description: With high-impact severe weather events on the rise, it is important for clinical professionals and those working with communities to understand the role they can play in disaster preparedness and response. This webinar will highlight how pediatricians can support families…

Our Community Engagement Core created a flyer on How to Stay Safe in Extreme Heat – 202 that was featured on the Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH) monthly resource newsletter! The PEPH is a network of scientists, community members, educators, healthcare providers, public health officials, and policymakers who share the goal of increasing the impact of environmental public health research at the local, regional, and national level.    

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported on the CHART study loooking at Atlantans’ exposure to heat and air pollution, in a time of hotter weather. Read the full article here.  As the planet warms because of human-caused climate change, studies have found metro Atlanta is experiencing more extreme heat. But exactly how hot it actually feels depends on where you are in the city. Blocks shaded by trees are cooler than ones…

The CHART Community Engagement Core (CEC), guided by its Partner Steering Committee, has selected three outstanding projects for the 2025-2026 CHART Community Grant. On our second year of this project we received applications from dedicated groups across the Atlanta metro area, all focused on addressing climate-related challenges, particularly those related to heat.  Each year, CHART’s CEC invites Atlanta residents to propose innovative projects aimed at mitigating climate and heat impacts in…

The CHART Research Capacity Building Core has selected two outstanding projects for the 2025-2026 Pilot Project Program in Climate and Health. This year, we received applications from groups across the country seeking to extend their research program into the field of climate and health. The Pilot Project Program aims to build the capacity of investigators by providing funding for innovative pilot proposals that plan to generate new knowledge about the…

  Science in Action: Crafting Clear Messages for Broader Impact   August 27, 2025, 12:00- 1:00 PM ET   Registration Link    Attendees will be eligible for 1 CNE credit    Description: Your work is important and can make a difference in many people’s lives. But first, they have to know about it, and second, they have to be able to use it. Science for Georgia has been helping to get science…

CHART investigators have published the article “Translating Climate and Health Research into Action: A Webinar Series on Heat-Related Health Risks” . The Education Innovation Report focuses on how the CHART Webinar Series follows an innovative continuing education model, using results from a data-driven needs assessment to inform the development of climate change and health webinars. Within these webinars, subject matter experts bridge gaps between health professions, support translation of current…

Environmental Health in Pediatric Practice: Tools, Challenges, and Opportunities  This webinar was held on July 23, 2025  Access the recording of the session HERE  On-demand evaluation survey  Attendees will be eligible for 1 CNE credit  Description: Children are especially vulnerable to the health impacts of climate change, particularly in under-resourced urban communities where exposure to extreme heat and environmental pollutants is more severe. In this webinar, we will explore the development…

CHART investigators have published the article “ Case-crossover assessment of the modifying effects of home medication use on acute kidney-related morbidity due to elevated ambient heat exposure in Atlanta, GA, from 2013 to 2019“. The article focuses on how elevated ambient temperatures increase the risk for acute kidney-related morbidity, and medication use may increase vulnerability to heat exposure. This study examines whether medication use, and combination medication use (ie, polypharmacy), modifies…

CHART investigators have published the article “Estimating the Association Between Outdoor Temperature and Acute Kidney Injury Using Alternative Case Definitions”, which describes the study aimed to improve estimates of the association between acute kidney injury (AKI) and ambient heat exposure through better case ascertainment and by isolating community-acquired AKI. Rabin B, D’Souza R, Weil EJ, Chang HH, Ebelt S, Scovronick N. Estimating the Association Between Outdoor Temperature and Acute Kidney…

  This webinar was held on May 22, 2025 Access the recording of the session HERE On-demand evaluation survey Attendees will be eligible for 1 CNE credit Description: As summertime approaches, it is important to recognize how the human body naturally regulates heat, as well as the impact that medication use has on disrupting that regulation. This webinar will address drugs and mechanisms that increase risk of heat-related illnesses and…

Youth Mental Health and the Climate Crisis This webinar was held on February 11, 2025 Access the recording of the session HERE *This enduring material is eligible for Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) credits! Description: Climate change has profound and escalating consequences for all aspects of human health, including our mental health and emotional well-being. In this webinar we will learn about how climate change is harming mental health, the reasons…