An official website of the United States government
Health and Extreme Weather: Advancing Critical Research to Address the Direct and Indirect Health Impacts of Weather-Related Natural Disasters and Emerging Weather-Related Harms.
When beginning your next investigator-initiated application, consider the following NIH highlighted topic. The area of science described below is of interest to the listed NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs). This is not a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO).
Apply through an appropriate NIH Parent Funding Announcement or another broad NIH opportunity available on Grants.gov. Learn how to interpret and use Highlighted Topics.
Topic Description
Post Date: May 1, 2026
Expiration Date: May 1, 2028
The NIH Health and Extreme Weather (HEW) Program aims to support research to increase understanding of how extreme weather, including weather-related natural disasters and emerging weather-related harms, impacts human health. In addition to understanding mechanistic processes, the program prioritizes research to develop, test, implement, and evaluate interventions and prevention strategies that protect the health of communities and those at heightened risk for mortality, chronic disease, and lifelong health risks. The program also prioritizes research connecting health and environmental data, training and capacity building, community engagement, research translation, and collaboration. Furthermore, the program aims to promote gold standard and collaborative science across relevant fields, including biological sciences, atmospheric science, health economics, implementation science, and other disciplines. More detail can be found in the NIH Health and Extreme Weather Strategic Framework, available online.
In the context of the HEW Program, the scope of “extreme weather, including weather-related natural disasters and emerging weather-related harms” includes the following:
- Extremes in temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind velocity, and other meteorological variables
- Wildfires, hurricanes, droughts, floods, heatwaves, harmful algal blooms, snowpack loss, and extreme storms
- Weather’s downstream influence on other environmental exposures and health-relevant outcomes
Projects in this topic area may be situated at different nodes on the translational continuum. Applications might:
- Utilize in vivo, in vitro, and in silico models to understand the mechanistic underpinnings of the health effects associated with extreme weather.
- Assess short- and long-term health risks of extreme weather across the life-course and among populations at heightened risk for harm such as children, people with chronic pre-existing medical conditions, pregnant women, newborns, agricultural and other outdoor workers, older adults, military personnel and veterans, first responders, patients using electricity-dependent equipment, residents of rural and urban areas, and those with limited economic resources.
- Develop, test, implement, and evaluate evidence-based interventions to prevent or reduce the impacts of extreme weather on human health.
Methods to advance the aggregation, linking, accessibility, and interpretation of health and weather-related data are also of interest, as are efforts to provide training and build the capacity of researchers across the disciplines needed to address the health impacts of extreme weather. Community engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and research translation are encouraged in health and extreme weather research applications.
Participating ICOs
NIEHS is interested in studies focused on environmental exposures with implications for human health (e.g. airborne pollutants, chemical and heavy metal contaminants, ambient temperature, and toxins related to harmful algal blooms) that are associated with weather-related phenomena, including:
- Efforts to identify, characterize, and quantify the influence of weather and natural disasters on environmental exposures in the context of health and disease processes; and to understand how weather-related exposures contribute to the exposome of environmental influences over the life-course
- Epidemiology, mechanistic, and computational studies that examine the role of weather-related exposures in the development and/or progression of human disease
- Studies focused on interventions to reduce the health impacts of environmental exposures driven and/or exacerbated by weather and natural disasters, including those using implementation science approaches.
Ashlinn Quinn
[email protected]
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health prioritizes rigorous evaluation of complementary and integrative health (CIH) interventions and prevention strategies to mitigate stress-related, multisystem, and chronic health consequences of extreme weather. Research priorities include studying multicomponent whole-person interventions; engaging communities as research partners; integrating health and environmental data; and promoting gold-standard, collaborative science across biological, environmental, and health disciplines to strengthen resilience and long-term health outcomes.
NCCIH Division of Extramural Research
[email protected]
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is interested in supporting research relevant to advancing the understanding of the effects of extreme weather-related exposures on cancer risks, control, and survivorship, and ways to prevent or mitigate negative cancer-related health effects. Areas of research interest include, but are not limited to:
- Investigations of physical, chemical, and biological exposures related to extreme weather and cancer etiology and outcomes.
- Understand and address the susceptibility of cancer patients and survivors to direct and indirect effects of extreme weather events.
- Understand the effects of extreme weather on healthcare delivery and outcomes among patients undergoing cancer treatment and cancer survivors.
Curt Dellavalle, Ph.D.
[email protected]
NHLBI is interested in proposals investigating the impact of cumulative environmental exposures and extreme weather on heart, lung, blood and sleep (HLBS) health, risk factors, diseases and conditions, such as: sickle cell illness, anemias, asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease, heart failure, myocardial infarctions, arrhythmias, and hypertension. Research across the lifespan and among health disparate populations affected by cumulative environmental exposures is of interest, with particular emphasis on children, older adults, and pregnant women. Example topics of interest are: the impact of chronic exposures on risk factors for HLBS disorders across the lifespan, the integration of environmental and HLBS-related health datasets, and community-engaged adaptation of interventions that promote resilience and sustainability. Multidisciplinary teams are encouraged, as are studies spanning the translational research spectrum—from basic sciences to implementation research.
ICO Scientific Contact:Mary Masterson, PhD, MS
[email protected]
NIA wants to understand how extreme weather affects the health and wellbeing of older individuals and caregivers via behavioral, biological, and socio-environmental lifespan processes. Analysis of NIA-supported cohorts is strongly encouraged. Example topics include:
- Short- and long-term changes in aging-related processes, including those at the molecular, cellular, and physiological levels; the pace of aging; and functional and cognitive abilities.
- Impact of age-related changes in affective, social, and cognitive factors on individual responses, and how behavior changes needed for preparedness and adaptation are initiated and maintained.
- Economic and systems research toward changes for healthcare preparedness and health services delivery to prevent and/or mitigate mortality and morbidity.
- Studies that develop, test, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions or educational resources for specific older adult populations, including within care facilities.
Emerald Nguyen, Ph.D.
[email protected]
Jennifer Fox , Ph.D.
[email protected]
Richard Kwok, Ph.D.
[email protected]
Lyndon Joseph, Ph.D.
[email protected]
Weather-related variations are known to be associated with changes in incidence, prevalence, and severity of multiple infectious and allergic diseases. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the impact of pollutants, extreme heat, humidity and/or other environmental exposures on:
- immune responses relevant to the development, prevention and management of upper and lower airway disease (e.g., asthma, allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, susceptibility to respiratory viral infections), atopic dermatitis, food allergy and/or auto-immune/autoinflammatory disease in children and adults;
- zoonotic, food-, water-, and vector-borne pathogens, especially with respect to their reproductive capacity, transmissibility, epidemiology, and virulence, including changes in susceptibility to anti-infective interventions.
Adriana Costero-Saint Denis (Microbiology and infectious diseases)
[email protected]
Patrice Becker (Allergy, immunology, and transplantation)
[email protected]
NIAMS is interested in how environmental exposures, including extreme weather events, affect the onset, severity, and treatment responses of arthritis, musculoskeletal, and skin diseases. This is aligned with NIAMS Strategic Plan priority : Understanding Behaviors and Environmental Exposures That Promote Health or Cause Disease.
Some areas of interest include:
- Identifying biomarkers of environmental exposures (e.g., temperature extremes, air pollution, wildfires) that are associated with worsened disease status—such as flares in psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, lupus.
- Conducting studies using personal exposure assessment methodologies, including wearable devices and environmental sensors, to provide stronger causal evidence linking extreme weather and other environmental exposures to disease outcomes.
Additionally, research advancing beyond associations and integrating cutting-edge exposure assessments, mechanistic insights, and longitudinal designs are encouraged.
ICO Scientific Contact:Rebecca Lenzi, PhD
[email protected]
NIMH is interested in research that improves understanding of relationships between extreme weather and mental health.
Potential topics include:
- Methods to accurately measure short- and long-term mental illness attributable to extreme weather events.
- Unique issues related to extreme weather and the mental health of children and adolescents.
- Intervention development and testing to reduce extreme weather-related mental health sequelae.
- Assessment of risk and resilience among populations most at risk, such as people with serious mental illness, those exposed to weather-related natural disasters, youth, and older adults.
- Intervention, mitigation, and adaptation strategies to strengthen the resilience of communities and health systems affected by extreme weather.
- Evidence-based practices and interventions in real-world settings such as communities, schools, during natural disasters.
- Data sharing methods to support rigorous and reproducible health and extreme weather findings.
Laura Thomas, Ph.D.
[email protected]
NIMHD supports solution-oriented research to improve health and reduce health disparities, including those related to extreme weather. Projects must focus on NIH-designated populations experiencing disparities and include validated behavioral, clinical, or biomedical outcomes. NIMHD emphasizes multidisciplinary research, academic-community partnerships, and a clear focus on population health in communities at high risk (e.g., outdoor workers, rural or coastal residents) for extreme weather-related harms. Priority areas include but are not limited to:
- Identifying biological, behavioral, environmental, social, community, and healthcare factors that influence actionable links between weather and health disparities.
- Developing and testing interventions to prevent or reduce risk of adverse health outcomes that are impacted by extreme weather.
- Implementation of evidence-based interventions to mitigate the health impacts of extreme weather events in real-world settings.
NIMHD Division of Integrative Biological and Behavioral Sciences
[email protected]
NINR supports science informing practice to reduce the impacts of extreme weather events on individuals and populations across the lifespan. NINR emphasizes rigorous, solutions-oriented research that addresses the conditions of people's lives and that is developed in collaboration with communities. NINR supports research aligned with our mission and strategic priorities conducted by scientists from any discipline.
Some areas include:
- Developing and evaluating community and organization-level interventions to mitigate negative health impacts especially for populations that are disproportionately affected by extreme weather
- Data-driven research examining how conditions of daily life (e.g., housing stability, neighborhood environments) shape health resilience and recovery following extreme weather events
- Natural experiments that evaluate the effects of naturally occurring events such as extreme weather events on health outcomes and disparities
CDR Nadra Tyus, DrPH, MPH
[email protected]
Sydney O'Connor
[email protected]
For this topic, ODP is particularly interested in:
- Projects that develop, test, and implement preparedness, prevention, and recovery interventions to protect human health and reduce the health impacts of extreme temperatures and other extreme weather events and weather-related natural disasters, particularly for populations at heightened risk for mortality, chronic disease, and other health risks.
- Projects that evaluate strategies to prevent disruptions to screening and healthcare services following extreme weather events.
Liberty Walton
[email protected]
ORWH supports research advancing evidence-based strategies to protect women’s health across the lifespan before, during, and after extreme weather events and related disasters. Priority is given to multidisciplinary studies using sex-disaggregated data to assess health impacts across life stages.
Key areas include:
- Research on how extreme weather affects chronic conditions in women and how risks vary by age, reproductive stage, and menopausal status to guide prevention and care.
- Evaluation of disaster preparedness plans and their impact in addressing women’s mental health, chronic disease management, and reproductive health needs, and identifying gaps that worsen morbidity and disparities.
- Evaluation of factors influencing resilience among women in rural and medically underserved communities.
- Evaluation of how environmental displacement and changes in living conditions after extreme weather events affect women’s health.
Douthard, Regine, M.D., M.P.H.
[email protected]
For technical issues E-mail OER Webmaster