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This one-day conference will explore the links between environmental change and planetary health. Prominent and influential speakers will discuss priorities for climate and health at COP29 and beyond, and explore how the health and scientific communities can influence these global negotiations. The diverse programme will include sessions on the health impacts of environmental change, as well as solutions that benefit both people and the planet.

​​The event will showcase the Centre on Climate Change & Planetary Health (CCCPH) at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) as a pioneer in climate and health, shaping policy and training the next generation of leaders.​ It will highlight impactful projects from CCCPH, the MRC Units at LSHTM, and other partners, providing opportunities for knowledge sharing, networking and collaboration.

​​Celebrating 125 years, LSHTM is committed to creating a more healthy, sustainable and equitable world. In a time of accelerating change and uncertainty, the conference will spotlight LSHTM’s focus on equipping future researchers, managers and leaders with the skills and knowledge they need to take on today’s challenges through our in-person and new online Master‘s programme on climate change and planetary health.

While the event will be aimed primarily at students (current and prospective) and early career researchers, all internal or external audience members are welcome. ​​Of particular interest to students and early career researchers (ECRs), there will be a session focused on careers in planetary health. The conference will also provide a platform for PhD students and ECRs at LSHTM to present their work and ideas on key topics, fostering a community of innovation and leadership in climate and health. 

​​Delegates can join the hybrid, full-day conference either online or in person. ​There is no charge for attending but you will need to register in advance. Lunch and refreshments will be provided for those who come in person. The main event will also be followed by a drinks and canapes reception.

​​Join us to discover how evidence-based research informs climate and health policy and action, and learn how LSHTM is working on new approaches to protect our shared health and educate future planetary health leaders.

Programme

From ​09:30: Registration

Registration desk will be located outside the upper entrance of the John Snow Lecture Theatre

​10:00: Session 1: Climate Change & Planetary Health at LSHTM: A New Era 

Professor Liam Smeeth, Director, LSHTM: Opening remarks

Liam Smeeth is the Director of LSHTM and a Professor of Clinical Epidemiology. He is also a practicing doctor in NHS general practice. During his career, he has been supported by fellowships from MRC, NIHR and Wellcome. He was previously a Trustee of the British Heart Foundation and a non-executive director of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. He is a member of the strategic oversight committee for UK Biobank and an elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He co-chairs the BMJ Commission on the Future of the NHS.

Professor Rosemary Green & Professor Kris Murray (online), MRC Unit The Gambia, Co-Directors of the Centre on Climate Change & Planetary Health (CCCPH): Welcome from the CCCPH

Professor Rosemary Green is Professor of Environment, Food and Health at LSHTM. Rosie’s research focuses on the links between diets, the environment and human health. She also leads work on the health benefits of climate action as co-Principal Investigator of the Pathfinder Initiative.

Professor Kris Murray is Professor in Environmental Change and Health at the MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM. Kris’s research focuses on global environmental change and its linkages to human, animal and ecosystem health.

Dr Pauline Paterson, Co-Programme Director of the MSc Climate Change & Planetary Health, LSHTM: Climate Change and Planetary Health at LSHTM: A New Era

Dr Pauline Paterson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at LSHTM. She is the Co-Programme Director of the MSc in Climate Change and Planetary Health and the Trust in Climate Science Lead at the Confidence Project.

10:40: Keynote Presentation from Professor Johan Rockström, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (recorded)  

Safe and Just Earth System Boundaries: An Update on Earth’s Health

This presentation provides a scientific update of the state of the Earth’s system and how this links to the health of both people and the planet. The latest research reveals that six of the nine planetary boundaries are now substantially breached, and urgent action is needed to bring us back to a safe operating space. 

is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Professor in Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam and Professor in Water Systems and Global Sustainability at the University of Stockholm. He is an internationally recognised scientist on global sustainability issues and led the development of the Planetary Boundaries framework for human development in the current era of rapid global change. Professor Rockström is a leading scientist on global water resources, with more than 25 years’ experience in applied water research in tropical regions, and more than 150 research publications in fields ranging from applied land and water management to global sustainability. He is chair of the Earth Commission, the Earth League, Chief Scientist of Conservation International, and elected member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Photo credit: Karkow / PIK

11:00: Keynote presentation from Sir Andy Haines, Professor of Environmental Change and Public Health, LSHTM

Climate change and planetary health - an overview

Andy Haines is Professor of Environmental Change and Public Health at LSHTM. Andy’s work has focused on the environmental influences on health, including the health impacts of climate change, and the health co-benefits of climate action. He is co-Chair of the Lancet Pathfinder Commission and broader Wellcome Trust-funded Pathfinder Initiative, with Helen Clark and Joy Phumaphi. He has chaired and been a member of many international committees, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the 2nd, 3rd and 5th assessment exercises. Andy was Director of LSHTM between 2001-2010 and until recently co-director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Health at LSHTM.

​11:25: Break 

 

​11:45: Session 2: How to advance climate action for health: COP29 and beyond

Panel discussion with:

​Dr Sarah Whitmee, LSHTM 

Dr Sarah Whitmee is an Assistant Professor at LSHTM in the Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health. She was the lead author on the 2023 Lancet Pathfinder Commission Report entitled Pathways to a healthy net-zero future: report of the Lancet Pathfinder Commission. She is a co-principal investigator on the Wellcome Trust funded Pathfinder Initiative, which aims to assess and synthesise lessons from the implementation of practical, evidence-based pathways to zero-carbon societies. Sarah is also principal investigator on the UKERC funded WinWindow project which aims to assess the feasibility and data challenges to monitoring and tracking co-benefits in health, environment, jobs and energy from UK net zero policies. She is an expert contributor to many international reports, including the 2019 IPBES Global Assessment and GEO-7 and she is a member of the steering committee for the 2024 What Works Climate Solutions Summit a major global conference on evidence-based policy for climate solutions.

, Sunway University

Dr Jemilah Mahmood is a medical professional with more than two decades experience managing crises in health, disasters and conflict settings. She is Executive Director of Sunway Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University in Malaysia.

​Dr Martin Muchangi, Amref Health Africa (online)

Martin Muchangi is Director of Population Health and Environment at Amref Health Africa. He holds a Master’s degree in public health and is a Doctor of Philosophy candidate studying in the same field. Martin has 17 years of professional experience in public health, particularly in the African context. He has devoted his career to designing and implementing innovative, fit for purpose public health programmes in different contexts across Africa. His expertise includes climate change, water sanitation and hygiene, neglected tropical diseases and implementation science in the same fields. 

, Imperial College London (online)

Dr Omnia El Omrani is a Climate and Health Policy Fellow at Imperial College London. She was the first official Youth Envoy for the President of COP27 and the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs. She was then appointed as Health Envoy for the 28th UN Climate Conference (COP28). She is a medical doctor with multiple roles as a Commissioner at the Lancet Commissions on Sustainable Healthcare, Prevention of Viral Spillover and Post-COVID Population Health. Omnia has attended the last five UN Climate Change Conferences in Katowice, Madrid, Glasgow, Sharm El Sheikh, and Dubai representing more than 1.3 million medical students worldwide in the International Federation of Medical Students' Association (IFMSA), and in Egypt representing youth globally. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University.

​Dr Sidat Yaffa, University of The Gambia (online)

Dr Sidat Yaffa is Assistant Professor at University of The Gambia (UTG), School of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences. Dr Yaffa also gives technical support to the Chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group on Climate Change on Agriculture, Loss & Damage, and Research & Systematic Observations during UNFCCC negotiations. In addition to the UNFCCC negotiation functions, Dr Yaffa also lectures full time and is a research agronomist at UTG.

, Centre for Planetary Health Policy (online)

Sophie Gepp is a Research Associate at the Centre for Planetary Health Policy (CPHP) in Berlin where she focuses on the Global Governance of Planetary Health. She graduated medical school from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and holds an MSc Public Health from LSHTM. She is currently pursuing her medical doctorate in the Climate Change and Health Working Group at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. She has been a consultant for international organisations on climate change and health and is currently Co-Chair of the steering committee of the Global Health Hub Germany.

Chaired by Dr Iris Blom, LSHTM

Dr Iris Blom is a PhD candidate at LSHTM, researching greenhouse gas mitigation in healthcare systems and its relation with adaptation in the context of climate change. She is a medical doctor from the Netherlands with a Master's degree in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, as a Schwarzman Scholar. She has attended the UNFCCC COP25-COP28, and the first-ever UN Youth Climate Summit to advocate for health. She serves on the Lancet Commission on Sustainable Healthcare as working group co-chair and was selected as the first next-generation representative on the Steering Committee of the Planetary Health Alliance. She represented medical students worldwide to the World Health Organization from 2020 to 2022, during which she jointly set up the WHO Youth Council of Director-General Dr Tedros. She now continues to support youth engagement with the WHO.

​12:40: Lunch 

 

​13:40: Fireside chat with Dr Vanessa Kerry, Seed Global Health & WHO Director-General Special Envoy for Climate Change & Health (online), hosted by Professor Andy Haines, LSHTM

Dr Vanessa Kerry MD, MSc 

Dr Kerry is the co-founder and CEO of Seed Global Health (Seed), a non-profit organisation focused on health systems strengthening and transformation through long-term investments and training of the health workforce. Under her leadership, Seed has helped educate more than 42,000 doctors, nurses, and midwives in seven countries, helping to improve health care for more than 76 million people. In June 2023, Dr Kerry was appointed WHO Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health. She has spoken and written about the effects of climate change on human health and health systems and the need to integrate a health-centered response into climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. Dr Kerry supported the UAE COP28 Presidency to shape the first-ever COP Day of Health in December 2023 and continues to lead efforts globally to build advocacy around the impact of climate change on health and ensure equitable and just climate action. Dr Kerry is a pulmonary and clinical care trained physician and the Director of Global and Climate Health Policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is the mother of two children. â¶Ä¯

​14:10: Session 3: Impacts of environmental change on planetary health 

Chair: ​Professor Shakoor Hajat, LSHTM

Shakoor Hajat is a Professor of Global Environmental Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit in Environmental Change and Health. He leads large interdisciplinary research projects on climate and health and his work has influenced public health policy on climate change at local, national and international level. Shakoor is also Programme Director of the MSc Public Health programme at LSHTM and contributed to the development of a new MSc in Climate Change and Planetary Health. 

​Professor Antonio Gasparrini, LSHTM: Impacts of environmental change on planetary health: The experience of the MCC Collaborative Research Network

Professor Antonio Gasparrini is a biostatistician and epidemiologist with interests in methodology, applied research in various epidemiological and public health topics, and software development. His current research focuses on the development of novel study designs for individual and small-area analyses, use of novel remote sensing and mobile technologies in epidemiology, spatio-temporal modelling of environmental exposures and risks, and health impact projections for climate change. He leads the Environment and Health Modelling Lab at LSHTM, a research project developing innovative epidemiological methods to study the impact of environmental stressors on human health.

Huiqi Chen, LSHTM: Economic Burden of High Temperatures on Health Systems: A Quantitative Analysis of Hospital Admissions in Brazil

This study examines the health and economic impacts of high temperatures on hospital admissions in Brazil under climate change. Using data from 2008 to 2019 and projections up to 2060, we estimate the cost burden on health systems due to heat-related hospitalisations, highlighting the regional disparities and the critical need for adaptation strategies.

Huiqi Chen is a Research Fellow in environmental epidemiology, focusing on the health burden and economic impacts of high temperatures and climate change across Europe, Brazil, and China. Her research aims to inform climate policy, including both mitigation and adaptation strategies, to reduce climate-related health risks.

Isabel Byrne, LSHTM: Climate change, malaria and NTDs: results from WHO scoping review (recorded)

This review explores the predicted effects of climate change on malaria and the 20 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), and the potential amelioration of these effects through climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. From over 42,000 publications, 572 studies were synthesized, revealing that climate shifts may expand transmission areas and intensity for diseases like malaria and dengue, highlighting the need for further targeted research and surveillance to safeguard health progress globally.

Isabel Byrne is a Research Fellow and staff PhD candidate, and part of the Drakeley Group in the Department of Infection Biology. She is interested in how the environment, and the changes we make to the environment, impact vector-borne diseases, especially malaria. She is currently undertaking part-time PhD under the EU horizons and UKRI funded PvSTATEM project in Ethiopia and Madagascar, investigating the impacts of spatial heterogeneity of disease on randomised control trials. From 2020-2023, she worked on various projects as a Research Assistant, including the Improving Human Health (IHH) flagship of Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) research programme, and the Freedom From Infection (FFI) for malaria team. 

Jessica Gerard, LSHTM: Understanding the Linkages and Sectoral Research Questions on Climate Change, Hygiene and Health

Anthropogenic climate change disrupts hygiene behaviours and health outcomes by impacting water, sanitation, and supplies; however, understanding of the specific linkages between climate change and hygiene remains limited. To address this gap, we reviewed existing evidence, developed a conceptual framework, and selected the CHNRI method to establish a consensus-based research agenda, conducting 52 key informant interviews across 17 countries to identify priorities, with emerging preliminary interests in water usage trade-offs, disease burden quantification, and equity in climate-resilient WASH infrastructure.

Jessica Gerard is a research assistant with the London School of Hygiene Environmental Health Group and alumnus, with an MSc in Control of Infectious Diseases. Currently, she works on an RGHI-funded study aimed at developing a research agenda on the links between climate, hygiene and health. Her previous experience includes translating evidence on climate change and health to policy in Kenya, as well as conducting research on climate, urban planning and both communicable and non-communicable health risks in South and North America.

​15:10: Session 4: Solutions for health and the environment 

Chair: ​Dr Sarah Whitmee, Assistant Professor, LSHTM

Dr Sarah Whitmee is an Assistant Professor at LSHTM in the Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health. She was the lead author on the 2023 Lancet Pathfinder Commission Report entitled Pathways to a healthy net-zero future: report of the Lancet Pathfinder Commission. She is a co-principal investigator on the Wellcome Trust funded Pathfinder Initiative, which aims to assess and synthesise lessons from the implementation of practical, evidence-based pathways to zero-carbon societies. Sarah is also principal investigator on the UKERC funded WinWindow project which aims to assess the feasibility and data challenges to monitoring and tracking co-benefits in health, environment, jobs and energy from UK net zero policies. She is an expert contributor to many international reports, including the 2019 IPBES Global Assessment and GEO-7 and she is a member of the steering committee for the 2024 What Works Climate Solutions Summit a major global conference on evidence-based policy for climate solutions.

​Dr Peninah Murage, LSHTM (online): Nature-based Solutions for our health and the health of the planet​

Dr Penny Murage is an Assistant Professor at LSHTM and environmental epidemiologist with a background in health policy. Her work examines the health effects of environmental change and how sustainable adaptation and mitigation solutions can promote the rapid transition to a zero-carbon future. This draws from a multidisciplinary perspective to understanding the complex linkages between people, places and natural ecosystems, and identifying nature-based solutions that can simultaneously promote health, safeguard natural ecosystems and achieve sustainable development.

Amanda Quintana, LSHTM: Learning Health Systems during Crisis: Understanding the Health Sector’s Response to the 2017/18 Cape Town Drought, South Africa

This project captured learnings from the Western Cape provincial health sector’s response to the 2017/18 drought where findings revealed the Western Cape health system undertook a range of actions to manage drought impacts and ensure health service delivery. Critical to the health sector’s management of the drought response were a series of identified health system ‘software’ and ‘hardware’ elements that can support the health system resilience to future droughts and climate risks.

Amanda Quintana is a global environmental health professional with experience in international health and development, program management, and implementation. Amanda is a PhD candidate at LSHTM, investigating climate resilient health systems in South Africa. Amanda is also the Climate and Health Technical Lead at Abt Global where she leads and supports the integration of climate change into health programs, such as global health system strengthening projects, and leads climate and health strategy development. Previously, Amanda worked for the USAID Global Health Bureau, supporting the delivery of maternal and child health and immunization interventions as well as climate risk management for Bureau projects.

Dr Jakob Petersen, LSHTM: CoSine – Co-benefits in health from Sustainable housing: Evaluating energy efficiency retrofits and health outcomes in Northeast London

Improving the energy performance of homes, can alleviate energy poverty, reduce excess winter mortality, and address a range of health issues associated with substandard housing, such as cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, wellbeing and mental health challenges. The project will measure health co-benefits of energy efficiency retrofits for energy poor households in Northeast London with real-world, administrative data while capturing stakeholder views. 

Dr Jakob Petersen is a quantitative researcher specialising in the evaluation of complex interventions, natural experiments, social determinants of health, and housing interventions. He is currently researching the impacts of landlord licencing in the private rental sector as part of an NIHR-funded mixed methods study.

Rebecca Newbould, LSHTM: Shifting Gears to Active Travel: Three Rapid Reviews to Support Healthy Urban Policy

Active transport offers a clear path to help achieve health and climate goals in the UK. Through three AI-supported rapid reviews, this project provides local authorities with targeted evidence on active travel – spotlighting effective framing strategies, economic benefits, and planning policies to promote impactful change.

Rebecca Newbould is a Research Assistant for the Pathfinder Initiative, dedicated to advancing policies that promote both climate and health through research. Formerly a dentist, she transitioned to public health research after completing an MSc in Health Policy at LSHTM & LSE. Her current research focuses on the health co-benefits of climate actions, including synthesising evidence for policy and strengthening research capacity. She is particularly interested in how climate-friendly urban planning impacts health outcomes, aiming to shape policies for healthier, more sustainable communities.

​16:10: Break 

 

16:30: Session 5: Careers in planetary health

Panel discussion with:

Dr Pauline Scheelbeek, LSHTM

Pauline is Associate Professor in Planetary Health and Nutritional Epidemiology at LSHTM, and and Programme Co-Director of the MSc Climate Change & Planetary Health at LSHTM.

Maiyai Taal Hocheimy, GREAT Institute (online)

Maiyai Taal Hocheimy is the Founder and Director of the GREAT (Gaining Research Experience in Africa for Tomorrow) Institute, the first aquatic and coastal science research and education Institute in The Gambia. Her work is centered on climate change adaptation and mitigation, with a significant focus on building resilience using nature-based solution for coastal communities that are most vulnerable to climate change. She is the cofounder of Gambia Ocean Heroes, a service-learning project that has over 2000 volunteers helping to reduce plastic pollution in The Gambia. Maiyai received her BSc in Marine & Environmental Science from Hampton University (USA) and her MSc in Marine Science, Policy, and Law from the University of Southampton (UK). She is a member of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), Ecological Society of America (ESA-SEEDS), and the Coastal and Estuarine, Research Federation (CERF). She is a National Geographic Explorer and a recipient of the 2019 Next Einstein Forum STEM Award.

Ross Thompson, LSHTM & UKHSA

Ross Thompson has a strong technical and operational background in environmental science specialising in epidemiology, climate change and sustainability. Ross has considerable experience responding to public health incidents, developing public health advice and guidance, providing education on the health impacts of high impact weather and climate change to both students and professionals. He recently completed a PhD at LSHTM exploring individual-level risk factors associated with increased risk of mortality during episodes of heat. Ross currently leads the work within UKHSA on the continued improvement of surveillance approaches and reporting of the observed impacts during adverse weather events in England and the development, and continued improvement of the Weather-Health Alerting system which is operated by UKHSA in partnership with the Met Office.

Dr Stella Atim,PMRC Unit Uganda, LSHTM

Dr Stella Atim is an LSHTM/Stanford Postdoctoral Planetary Health Research Fellow based at the Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit. Stella investigates environmental factors that might be contributing to the high prevalence of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever in Uganda. She models man-made change and climatic factors that may be driving a shift in the geographical range of ticks associated with the disease, as well as changes in livestock farming practices associated with exposure. 

Chaired by:

Genevieve Hadida, LSHTM

Genevieve Hadida is a Research Assistant in Food Systems Health and Sustainability at LSHTM, and a Registered Associate Nutritionist. She is part of the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Environmental Change and Health, and the Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems in Southern Africa project, where her research is centred around sustainable diets. She also provides quantitative analytical support to the Food Foundation, in particular their UK food insecurity tracking.

And Blanca Anton, LSHTM

Blanca Anton is a Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and a part-time PhD candidate. She joined LSHTM in 2021 after graduating from the London School of Economics with a MSc in Health and International Development. Blanca’s work focuses on the health co-benefits of climate mitigation actions and she is part of the Pathfinder Initiative research project. 

​17:15: Celebrating 125 years of LSHTM & the future of climate change and health 

Professor Liam Smeeth, Director, LSHTM

​17:25: Drinks reception

 

Read more about LSHTM's journey to net zero, including sustainability themes that apply to all our events.