Duke University has named the latest recipients of its Climate and Health Big Idea Grants, a program aimed at accelerating research into the growing health impacts of climate change. Kate Webb, PhD, an assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences, received one of the grants for her project, “Trauma Recovery in a Changing Climate: Impacts of Extreme Heat and Air Pollution on Biological Risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.”
The program is supported by The Duke Endowment and the Climate and Health Research Initiative Innovation Fund, which is made possible through the generous support of Duke School of Medicine Board of Visitors member John Cavalier.
Trauma Recovery in a Changing Climate
Using innovative personal environmental monitoring methods, Webb and her colleagues will examine how extreme heat and air pollution shape psychological and biological outcomes among recent trauma survivors in North Carolina. The research aims to identify individual- and community-level targets for evidence-based, community-informed interventions to reduce climate-related mental health risks.
This interdisciplinary team includes experts from the Duke School of Medicine, Nicholas School of the Environment, Pratt School of Engineering, and the Duke Global Health Institute, combining strengths in psychiatry, neuroscience, emergency medicine, environmental engineering, ecology, biostatistics, and epidemiology.
Read more about the grant program and the other funded Duke University projects