Undertaking interdisciplinary research on health effects of climate change

The support of interdisciplinary research into the study and forecasting of health impacts of climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion, focusing particularly on health outcomes.

The relative newness of this topic means that there has been little formal research into the health impacts of climate change. Nevertheless, the topic has begun to be clarified by a combination of literature reviews, epidemiological studies, laboratory studies and predictive modelling. Much of the research cannot be done within a simple empirical framework. In order to forecast the likely health outcomes of exposure to future environmental scenarios, predictive models need to be developed that integrate disparate systems. This requires unusual reliance on an interdisciplinary approach.

Interdisciplinary collaboration between partners has an important role to play in maintaining a watching brief on emerging environmental threats and on new scientific opportunities arising from research. Collaboration between partners will establish and facilitate interfaces between research and policy-making, if appropriate in partnership with other groups such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, industry and nongovernmental organizations. It will also balance "top-down" and "bottom-up" approaches in priority-setting in the future and promote interdisciplinary approaches.