THERM-UK: £2.5 million grant to fight heat risks in the UK

Oxford Brookes University is excited to announce its involvement in the THERM-UK project, a £2.5 million research initiative funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

Led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), the project gathers a diverse group of  experts from across the UK to tackle the health threats posed by intense, frequent heatwaves driven by climate change. 

As climate change increasingly drives unpredictable weather patterns, heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense, posing significant risks to public health. From direct effects like heat-related illnesses and deaths to indirect consequences such as the spread of disease-carrying insects, climate factors influence our health in numerous ways. 

The project is developing innovative ways to:

• Reduce people's heat exposure.
• Better detect weather-related health damage.
• Identify the most vulnerable groups to ensure targeted support.

Oxford Brookes University is a collaborator on the project alongside the University of Leeds, University College London, University of Exeter and the Met Office. The collective expertise within the project spans across epidemiology and environmental science to health economics and urban planning. Professor Rajat Gupta from Oxford Brookes will contribute expertise on indoor air quality and sustainable building solutions (including retrofits and heat pumps).

THERM-UK will provide crucial evidence on the health benefits and costs of different actions, directly informing UK public health policies and climate adaptation strategies to help meet net-zero goals.