Current models of industrialization and consumption are eroding biodiversity, degrading the environment, and impacting the ability of ecosystems to support human communities. Climate change and other environmental challenges are creating a health crisis of planetary dimension, with impacts falling disproportionately on vulnerable and historically marginalized populations.
Comprehensively understanding the linkages between the environment and human health allows us to design policies and systems that account for the true costs of environmental degradation and conservation.
The field of human and planetary health brings together perspectives from environmental sciences, public health, systems thinking, and other disciplines to achieve breakthroughs and find solutions. Our working group builds on a vibrant community of engaged faculty, staff, and students. More than 70 faculty and Stanford leaders across campus are active in human and planetary health and student engagement is high in all our work.
Human & planetary health recognizes the health of people and the planet as critical to a sustainable future. Reaching across the university and beyond, we aim to investigate and address these interdependencies to create and preserve a livable future
•Climate & health: Using climate science to protect communities against extreme weather, wildfires, and other impacts of climate change.
•Pollution & health: Envisioning restructured industries that manage ocean, land, and air pollution, support health, and build resilient economies.
•Ecology & infectious disease: Creating solutions that protect and restore ecosystems to reduce emergence of disease-causing pathogens.
•Food, health & the environment: Developing food systems that support livelihoods, mitigate climate change, and promote health – on land and at sea.
The Action Lab for Planetary Health (ALPHA) partners with Stanford researchers to develop evidence-based solutions that promote health, environmental stewardship, and social impact. Through policy influence, community partnerships, and strategic communications, ALPHA moves Stanford-generated evidence and research findings to action – working to develop multisectoral, scalable solutions for people and the planet.
A selection of seed grants from CIGH and Woods support solutions-oriented research on human & planetary health challenges, including CIGH Global Health Seed Grants, Woods Institute Environmental Ventures Projects, and Human and Planetary Health Early-Career Development Awards.
The Stanford/London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Human & Planetary Health Postdoctoral Fellowship fosters the professional development of a new generation of researchers committed to protecting health on a changing planet.
The human & planetary health crisis requires new thinking and bold leadership. These courses explore health adaptations to the climate crisis, how public health and environmental justice are intertwined, and how health considerations can inform environmental action – preparing students for careers in global health, environmental science, policy, entrepreneurship, innovation, strategic communications, and activism.
Together with the School of Medicine’s Climate, Health, and Equity Task Force and the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research, we are educating and empowering health professionals to be effective advocates for the planet. Sustainability resources for medical providers can be found here. We also support Medicine for a Changing Planet, a joint project with the University of Washington that develops human and planetary health case studies for medical students and clinicians.
Stanford offers an E-IPER master’s track in human & planetary health, focused on understanding the interconnections between environmental and ecosystem health and human health and wellbeing.
In a new initiative based at the Woods Institute for the Environment, faculty and student teams identify key stakeholders and investigate policy options to advance sustainability.
More information coming soon.
Stanford Climate and Health is a student-driven advocacy group that provides a space for the Stanford community to take action on climate change, planetary and environmental health, and sustainable health care by engaging in advocacy, education, dialogue, and research.
The Climate, Health, and Equity Task Force empowers climate leadership and sustainable healthcare at the School of Medicine – and partners with the student-run Stanford Climate & Health advocacy group on healthcare sustainability, medical education initiatives, and community engagement initiatives.
More information coming soon.
We are committed to community-engaged research and action, collaborating with the Environmental Justice Working Group (EJWG) and the School of Medicine’s Climate, Health, and Equity Task Force to involve community voices in defining research priorities and accelerate on-the-ground partnerships.
Stanford Program for Disease Ecology, Health, and the Environment, Stanford Sean N Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research, Stanford Environmental Justice Working Group, Stanford Climate, Health, and Equity Task Force, Stanford Existential Risks Initiative, Stanford Climate and Health, Emergence, Luby Lab, Mordecai Lab
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Contact: Erika Veidis, eveidis@stanford.edu