By Catherine Wu, Global Health Communications Assistant

A new report from the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Geophysical Union charts the path forward for understanding and preparing for the infectious disease consequences of climate change. The report emerged from deliberations of experts in epidemiology, microbial ecology and evolution, infectious diseases, and climate science who participated in a colloquium on Oct. 9-10, 2025. Stanford Associate Professor of Biology and Global Health Faculty Fellow Dr. Erin Mordecai, PhD, served on the steering committee.

The report, “Role of Climate Change on Infectious Diseases: From Attribution to Action in Global Health Preparedness,” documents how shifting temperatures, altered precipitation, and more frequent extreme weather events are expanding the geographic distribution and seasonality of disease outbreaks of dengue, malaria, West Nile Virus, Lyme disease, and Valley fever, among others. 

At Stanford, Mordecai’s lab researches the ecology of infectious diseases such as dengue and malaria. Her findings, particularly related to pathogen growth, vector survival, biting rate, and host susceptibility across temperature or moisture gradients, are cited throughout the report. Mordecai’s expertise is also reflected in her leadership of the Disease Ecology in a Changing World program of the Stanford Center for Human and Planetary Health, which is a joint effort between the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and Center for Innovation in Global Health.

Noah Diffenbaugh, PhD, William Wrigley Professor and Kimmelman Family Senior Fellow in Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, also served on the steering committee.

The full American Academy of Microbiology and the American Geophysical Union report is available here. The report was supported by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

Learn more about Mordecai’s work here.