Faculty from the Department of Public & Ecosystem Health in the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, in partnership with the University of Pretoria in South Africa, have received an NIH P20 grant to establish the Center for Transformative Infectious Disease Research on Climate, Health and Equity in a Changing Environment (C-CHANGE).

Climate change is dramatically increasing both the spread of diseases carried by mosquitos and ticks and the risk of new viruses spilling over from animals into people. "To have the greatest health impacts, we must pivot from reactively responding to outbreaks to proactively understanding the social and environmental conditions that increase risk of outbreaks," says Dr. Alexander Travis, director of Cornell Public Health, founding chair of the Department of Public & Ecosystem Health, and multi-PI of the center along with Dr. Marinda Oosthuizen, professor and deputy dean of research and postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Pretoria. "If we can understand the conditions that allow diseases to emerge or spread, then we can predict when they will happen and work to prevent them, which is our ultimate goal."

C-CHANGE answers the call to address climate change's negative impacts on human health around the world. "Preventing the outbreak of disease before it occurs is the best way to protect the public's health," says Travis. The center's faculty and trainees will partner with rural communities primarily in South Africa and New York State who are most vulnerable to these changes, to collect and integrate diverse data on climate, land use, human and animal health, disease vectors, and the pathogens themselves. These teams will create predictive epidemiological models that can both help communities prepare, and form the basis of practical, preventative interventions.

Read the full story on the College of Veterinary Medicine site.