HPH Affiliates
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Affiliates of the Center for Human and Planetary Health are the backbone of our community. This program unites Stanford faculty and senior staff who are committed to advancing human and planetary health. HPH Affiliates’ work spans one or more of the Center’s four focus areas, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and driving meaningful impact.
New funding opportunity available to HPH Affiliates: HPH Catalyst Awards, small grants up to $5,000 to support research, education, stakeholder engagement, and community building. More information here. Winter applications are now closed. Check back in Spring for more opportunities.
Interested in joining us? To learn more or apply, please complete this form.
Meet the HPH Affiliates
- Shuchi Anand studies farm worker health and the impacts of heat stress and other environmental exposures on kidney disease.
- Nicole Ardoin works on mental health and wellbeing in the context of environmental challenges, exploring how time spent in nature influences health, community connection, sense of place, and environmental behavior - while also conducting research on the mental and physical health impacts of climate change and wildfire in partnership with redwood parks at the local, state, and national levels.
- Michele Barry leads efforts to build climate and global health capacity worldwide, including through incorporating climate change into medical education, strengthening health care in low-resource settings, examining the impacts of climate on women, and prioritizing equity and women's leadership in climate and health research, education, and action.
- Eran Bendavid researches the population-level impacts of tropical cyclones, extreme heat, and floods, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries and health policy.
- Jade Benjamin-Chung develops and evaluates scalable interventions targeting the complex interplay between infectious diseases, environmental factors, and human health in resource-limited settings, including climate resilience metrics, antimicrobial resistance, and malaria vector control.
- Gordon Bloom founded the Social Entrepreneurship Collaboratory (SE Labs) and the Stanford Sustainable Societies Lab, and teaches on the design and leadership of social impact ventures in global health and environmental sustainability, with recent work focused on advancing health and environmental cooperation in the Middle East.
- Alexandria Boehm investigates pathogens in the environment, working on coastal water quality, wastewater-based epidemiology, and risk assessment and collaborating with public health agencies worldwide.
- Adam Boies measures aerosol particles in emissions and in the environment to understand impacts on climate change and health.
- Timothy Bouley supports faculty in translating life science research for sustainability-focused commercial and policy impact, leveraging his previous experience at the World Bank and in a biotech company focused on planetary health.
- Marshall Burke focuses on understanding and addressing the societal impacts of environmental change, with a current emphasis on the impacts of climate change on wildfires and health outcomes.
- Andres Cardenas studies how chemical exposures affect maternal and child health, and also uses cutting-edge biomarkers to understand environmental impacts on genes, bodies, and how we age.
- Katherine Connors supports research participant engagement within and beyond Stanford, focusing on studies about the health impacts of plastic, wildfire smoke exposure, plant-based food as medicine, and patient perspectives on climate change.
- Giulio De Leo, co-lead of HPH's Disease Ecology in a Changing World (DECO) program, studies environmental impacts on ecological shifts and infectious disease, as well as the relationship between resource exploitation, infectious diseases, and poverty traps.
- Desiree LaBeaud conducts global interdisciplinary research on the health impacts of plastics, climate change, and food waste on vulnerable populations, especially children.
- Elizabeth DiRenzo investigates the impact of wildfire-emitted PM2.5 on upper airway health by studying its association with upper airway pathology in clinical settings and developing exposure models to understand the resulting pathophysiological changes.
- Rodolfo Dirzo is a champion for environmental justice and studies the interconnections between human-driven biodiversity loss, ecosystem functioning, and disease risk, with research focused on the Global South, including Africa and Latin America.
- Sibyl Diver conducts community-engaged research on Indigenous water governance, focusing on Pacific Northwest salmon watersheds, eco-cultural revitalization, and collaborative management arrangements between Indigenous communities and state agencies.
- James Ehlrich leads workshops and project-based learning on AI and GenAI for climate adaptability and regenerative resilience across K-12, undergraduate, master’s, and executive education programs.
- Barb Erny co-directs CLIME (Climate Learning Initiative in Medical Education) at Stanford, a network of stakeholders integrating climate health and equity, as well as healthcare sustainability, into education at the Stanford School of Medicine.
- Paige Fox focuses on healthcare sustainability, identifying opportunities to decrease waste and emissions while maintaining high-quality care.
- Duana Fullwiley researches how climate change and environmental degradation, such as extractive overfishing, can impact West Africans' undertaking of deadly open-sea migration attempts.
- Lisa Goldman Rosas uses community-based participatory research to address food insecurity and diet-related chronic diseases, examining sustainability, climate change, and local economic outcomes within food systems.
- Lauren Grossman leads curriculum development and teaching to foster climate and health leadership among students, trainees, and faculty, while advancing interdisciplinary efforts in education, policy, and patient care—including work on pandemic response, diet and food systems, and whole-person health that integrates climate, nutrition, and resilience.
- Tom Hayden teaches classes in communicating complex environmental issues to non-expert audiences.
- David Hayes has worked on federal policy connecting environmental and climate factors to health impacts, including air and water pollution and extreme weather, serving in senior roles in the U.S. Department of the Interior and the White House.
- Sam Heft-Neal studies environmental drivers of health – particularly air pollution, temperature, and natural disasters – and seeks to understand solutions to mitigate these health impacts.
- Jessica Hope conducts behavioral nutrition research, with goals of fostering adoption of plant-based diets and diminishing the prevalence of large-scale animal agriculture and confined animal feeding organizations (CAFOs).
- Solomon Hsiang works to understand climate and environmental impacts on health, including the long-term mortality consequences of tropical cyclones, the mental health impacts of higher temperatures, and the effects of climate change on conflict, migration, and global food security.
- Burcin Ikiz is a neuroscientist leading a global network advancing research and solutions on how environmental stressors—such as heat, air pollution, and extreme weather—affect brain health and mental well-being.
- Rob Jackson explores how transitioning to clean energy can benefit both the climate and human health, from cutting methane and carbon emissions to reducing pollution. He leads the Global Carbon Project and directs HPH’s Electrification for Health program, which advances research and solutions that support healthier, electrified communities.
- Abraar Karan investigates zoonotic spillovers, focusing on Marburg virus in Kenya and H5N1 in California, using molecular and serologic diagnostics to trace potential human transmission events.
- Tamiko Katsumoto leads research, curriculum development, and medical society initiatives on the intersection of food, health and the environment, with the goal of encouraging behavioral shifts to more sustainable plant-centered diets.
- Aslam Khan studies the impacts of environmental pollution and climate change on the distribution and spread of infectious diseases, as well as quantifying the differences in climate-health impacts in low- and high-income settings.
- Abby King conducts community-engaged citizen science research to develop low-cost solutions for high-priority local health and environmental issues, spanning noncommunicable and vector-borne diseases, behavioral health issues, and climate impacts on health.
- Kyle Lane-McKinley supports research on the mental health impacts of climate change, focusing on the effectiveness of peer-led groups in transforming climate distress into collective resilience.
- Jim Leape leads work to tap the potential of "blue foods” to help build food systems that are healthy, sustainable, and just, through mobilizing scientific research and working with governments to integrate build foods into food system policies and programs.
- Carole Lin focuses on reducing plastic waste in healthcare and assessing the health impacts of plastics, including life cycle analyses of medical supplies and sustainability initiatives in hospitals.
- Eleni Linos studies the intersection of environmental science and dermatology, with current projects examining how air pollution contributes to inflammatory skin diseases and how microplastics impact skin health.
- Nathan Lo focuses on infectious disease epidemiology and public health modeling to advance human and planetary health.
- David Lobell focuses on understanding how climate change impacts global food security, particularly through its effects on crop yields and agricultural practices - while identifying strategies that can improve food production and resilience in the face of environmental stressors.
- Lisa Mandle studies how nature contributes to human health and well-being, with research on urban nature’s mental health benefits, land use change and disease risk, and health impacts of climate change.
- Amanda has expertise in evaluation, global health, and business development. She is actively involved in fundraising, selection of the HPH postdoctoral fellows and Center for Innovation in Global Health/HPH Center research seed grants, and support of the Science Writing Advancing Planetary Health program.
- Kara Meister focuses on measuring nano- and microplastics in human tissues and their health impacts.
- Amelia Meyer works at the intersection of pollution, climate change, and health, developing nature-based solutions to reduce diseases and strengthen ecosystem resilience.
- Fiorenza Micheli leads initiatives on Blue Foods and the role of aquatic foods in sustainable, equitable, and healthy food systems, while also advising graduate research on climate change, marine diseases, seafood safety, and ocean acidification’s impact on nutritional quality.
- Grant Miller conducts global policy-relevant research and investigates environmental health issues, including water and air quality, population growth, and nutrition.
- Dinsha Mistree studies governance in the developing world and how reforms impact public health, particularly in South Asia, with projects related to turmeric-lead contamination and its health impacts.
- Erin Mordecai studies how environmental change affects infectious diseases and human and ecosystem health, with a focus on the impacts of climate and land use changes on vector-borne diseases. She also co-leads HPH's Disease Ecology in a Changing World (DECO) program.
- Christine Ngaruiya researches the intersections of climate change and non-communicable diseases, with a current focus on the impacts of motorcycles on chronic lung disease and emissions in Kenya.
- Ellen Oh fosters collaborations with faculty, researchers, and artists on interdisciplinary projects that highlight research and promote deeper humanistic and emotional engagement, inc around the environment and sustainability.
- John Openshaw is developing a field site to study the effects of extreme heat on informal settlements, with a focus on testing potential solutions to mitigate related health impacts. He also conducts infectious disease research and has worked in pandemic response and prevention.
- Khalid Osman uses interdisciplinary, community-engaged research to develop equitable, measurable solutions at the intersection of natural, built, and social environments, aiming to enhance public health through improved water equity, sustainable infrastructure, and emerging technologies in vulnerable communities.
- Julie Parsonnet studies infectious diseases, including cocci bacteria in California's Central Valley, and the impacts of heat on kidney health.
- Lisa Patel's work spans a broad range of climate and health topics, including wildfires, sustainable healthcare, climate-resilient schools, the renewable energy transition, the health impacts of climate change and fossil fuel pollution on children, plant-forward diets, health system preparedness for extreme heat, climate communications, and climate change in medical education.
- Erica Plambeck leads policy analysis and recommendations for the government of Bangladesh to mitigate lead emissions from its domestic lead-acid battery industry, as well as business model innovation to increase adoption of high-quality lead-free batteries.
- Emily Polk teaches and writes about community-led responses to climate change, the mobilization of social movements fighting for a healthier planet, climate equity, and navigating climate grief.
- Manu Prakash is an inventor advancing accessible, affordable solutions in climate monitoring, global health, and science education through a philosophical framework of “frugal science” to improve accessibility, partnership, and implementation.
- Tia Rich teaches a course at the School of Medicine: Contemplative Competence for Sustainability of Public and Planetary Health and Well-being, integrating contemplative science to support human and planetary health.
- Lorenzo Rosa’s research advances food security and global health by using hydrologic and techno-economic modeling to identify sustainable, resource-efficient strategies that enhance agricultural resilience to climate-driven water stress.
- Joelle Rosser examines the impacts of climate change and pollution on infectious disease transmission and tests interventions to mitigate associated risks.
- Debra Safer studies the intersection of climate change and mental health and is interested in advancing research-focused partnerships in this area.
- Matthew Savoca studies marine pollution, particularly microplastics and PFAS, using wildlife as ecosystem sentinels to assess human exposure and risk.
- Diana Scorpio is a veterinarian and One Health researcher and educator who investigates host-pathogen interaction with expertise on tick-borne pathogens (Rickettsia, Anaplasma) and links ecological change to human disease.
- Krish Seetah is a zooarchaeologist whose research focuses on disease dynamics and history, and includes evaluating longitudinal data focused on health in former colonial nations.
- Chungheon Shin works on biotechnology, process engineering, mechanistic modeling, and AI-enabled tools to develop scalable solutions for human and planetary health, including sustainable protein production, energy efficiency and sustainability, mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, and systems-level assessments.
- Seth Ari Sim-Son Hoffman's research focuses on developing tools to characterize the epidemiology of mild or subclinical transmission of pathogens—particularly those that drive antimicrobial resistance or pose a risk of future pandemics, with a special focus on the impacts of climate change.
- Sara Singer works on addressing waste and emissions reduction in health care institutions, teaches Global Leaders and Innovators in Human and Planetary Health, and supports the Sustainable Societies Lab.
- Matthew Strehlow studies how climate change and severe weather impact health and health systems, particularly in South and Southeast Asia, with a focus on heat, extreme weather patterns, emergency care, and health systems strengthening.
- Vidyani Suryadevara studies risk factors for dementia in low- and middle-income countries, with an emphasis on pollution.
- Jyothi Tirumalasetty researches the intersection of climate and health, focusing on reducing inhaler-related greenhouse gas emissions and exploring how pollution, heat, and climate-driven changes in pollen impact asthma and pulmonary health.
- Yuan Wang investigates atmospheric aerosols in urban haze and wildfire smoke and their health impacts using air quality models, remote sensing, and machine learning.
- Michael Wara manages a wide body of work focussed on climate, energy, and wildfire, conducting interdisciplinary, policy-focused research in law, engineering, public health, and economics.
- Michael Wilcox works with tribal communities worldwide—particularly the Muwekma and partners on Hawaiʻi Island—focused on restoring food systems, documenting cultural sites, and advancing research on human-plant interactions.
- Mikael Wolfe is a historian studying the intersections of social, political, environmental, and technological change, with a focus on water management, agrarian reform, climate ethics, and social movements.
- Gabrielle Wong-Parodi conducts community-centered research on climate resilience and human beha, including on low-cost air cleaners, the development of a climate resilience metric, and the effects of repeated exposure to extreme weather events.
- Britt Wray researches climate change and mental health, studying climate distress prevalence and co-developing interventions with affected communities while training mental health professionals on climate-related impacts.
- Ellen Yeh studies environmental microbiology, ecology, algal biotechnology, and sustainable agriculture and food systems, focusing on understudied microbial ecology as a solution for human and planetary health.
- Jessica Yu focuses on addressing health inequities related to urbanization and climate change, with an emphasis on reducing wildfire risk in California and providing public health guidance to protect vulnerable populations from the health impacts of wildfire smoke.
