Extreme weather, climate change & health

Head of Climate Impacts, Climate and Health at the Wellcome Trust

Dr Thomson is Head of Climate Impacts at the Wellcome Trust; a politically & financially independent foundation which supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. The Trust support researchers, policy makers & the public in tackling some of today’s greatest health challenges, including those associated with climate change. 

Dr Thomson is also a visiting Professor at Lancaster University, UK and an Emeritus professor at Columbia University, New York where she previously held senior research positions at the International Research Institute (IRI) for Climate and Society and the Mailman School of Public Health. While at IRI she served as Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Early Warning Systems for Malaria and Other Climate-Sensitive Diseases (including meningococcal meningitis and ZikaV) and was co-chair of the cross Columbia working group on global health security. 

Originally trained as a field entomologist she spent much of her early career undertaking operational research to support large-scale health interventions in Africa (e.g. the national impregnated bednet programme in The Gambia).   She was educated at the University of Sheffield (BSc), Imperial College London (MSc) and the University of Liverpool (PhD).

Research scientist at the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD)

Cheikh is a research scientist at the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) in Niamey/Niger. His research covers a large range of tropical and midlatitude meteorology and climatology including local and large scale convection, gust fronts, land surface feedback, weather regimes, climate impact on health, weather and climate early warning systems.

He holds a PhD on Atmospheric Physics focusing on atmospheric convection over Sahel during the monsoon season at University Cheikh Anta DIOP, Dakar/Senegal.  

Climate and Health Scientist, NRDC's Science Office

Vijay is a Climate and Health Scientist in NRDC's Science Office. As an epidemiologist, he is broadly interested in addressing international environmental health challenges -quantifying, communicating, and reducing the risks associated with climate change -with a focus on the public health burdens of air pollution and extreme heat.

At NRDC, he leads economic valuation work to demonstrate the significant health costs of climate change and he works to defend the science that underpins the Clean Air Act. Prior to joining NRDC, he worked as a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientist, focusing on Clean Air Act regulatory implementation, air quality monitoring policy, risk communication, and citizen science.

Limaye, who also speaks Spanish and Hindi, has published several research studies on the health impacts of climate change-triggered air pollution and extreme heat in the U.S. and India. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a PhD in environmental epidemiology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Senior Scientist in the Office of Research and Development at the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Dr. Whung’s science for community resiliency portfolio includes flood induced contaminants fate-and-transport from toxic sites, feasibility of solar economy for local government, and assessing mosquito-borne disease risks through environmental and socio-economic determinants of mosquito habitats. These community projects are collaborative efforts between ORD and US EPA Regions and States.

Dr. Whung held a position at the World Bank as the Science Adviser in the Agriculture and Environmental Services Department. She advised multi-million dollars Climate Smart Agriculture projects in Regions on climate services and products adoption on farms to achieve food security. One of her key accomplishments was to operationalize innovation and sustainable science and technology in projects for agriculture growth for climate resilience.

Dr. Whung served as Chief Scientist in the Office of Science Advisor at US EPA from 2008 to 2010. She advised the Administrator and the Agency Science Advisor on cross-EPA science and technology issues and led the completion of the draft EPA science plan in 2009. As a trained climate change scientist, Dr. Whung served as a key contributor to the cross-federal agency report on “A Human Health Perspective on Climate Change” that identified scientific gaps for research-to-decision making in the context of climate mitigation and adaption.

Dr. Whung has a doctoral degree in marine and atmospheric chemistry, a masters degree in oceanography and marine chemistry, and a bachelors degree in oceanography and geology. She has over twenty years of management, field research, and science policy experiences air quality, water quality, weather, sustainable ecosystems, climate change, and agricultural research. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including Science, and presented at many professional meetings.

Dr. Whung has managed geographically distributed and complex research organizations, offices, and staff in China, Australia, Argentina, France, and Washington DC. She applied a life-cycle accountability system’s approach in program management, budget execution, and human resources. She is also experienced in Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution system and performance-based management in a matrix organization.

Dr. Whung was a sub-committee member of the White House National Science and Technology Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. She worked successfully with states, private-sector stakeholders, cross-federal agencies, the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Science and Technology, and Congress to develop science for policy and decision-making initiatives, such as National Integrated Drought Information System, National Air Quality Forecasting Program, improved weather and climate information for advancing energy management, and Grand Challenge reports to advance drought resiliency and diseases risk predictions in the United States.

Prior to joining EPA, Dr. Whung served as the senior executive director for international research in the Agricultural Research Service at U.S. Department of Agriculture. One of her major accomplishments was to open the dialogue between U.S. and Brazil on science and technology exchanges in renewable energy, particularly in agricultural based biofuels. Dr. Whung also worked at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration where she was seconded to the World Meteorological Organization. Dr. Whung successfully worked with the Weather Channel, Energy CEOs, and federal agencies to launch a U.S. led twelve-nation weather-climate prediction program. Through these positions, Dr. Whung has cultivated a broad perspective on science and technology in the U.S. federal government and our partners.

George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health

Susan Anenberg is an Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health and of Global Health at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. She is also the Director of the GW Climate and Health Institute. Dr. Anenberg's research focuses on the health implications of air pollution and climate change, from local to global scales.

She currently serves on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board and Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, the World Health Organization's Global Air Pollution and Health Technical Advisory Group, and the National Academy of Science's Committee to Advise the U.S. Global Change Research Program.