How extreme weather like droughts and floods affects people living with HIV and ways to reduce harm
Official title: Understand and mitigating the influence of extreme weather events on HIV outcomes: A global investigation
Funded at Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy · NIH-11143739 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and storms affect care and treatment for people living with HIV worldwide and seeks ways to reduce those harms.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project start | August 21, 2023 |
| Project end | July 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $729,545 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AI179420-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11143739 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people living with HIV who receive care at clinics in the global IeDEA network, especially in areas prone to droughts, floods, or major storms.
✕Less likely to help
People without HIV or those living in regions not affected by extreme weather events are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
From my perspective as someone living with HIV, researchers are linking long-term clinic records from a global HIV cohort (IeDEA, >2 million people in 44 countries) with weather and climate data to see when and how extreme weather disrupts care. They will use longitudinal statistical models to track effects on timely start of antiretroviral therapy, loss to follow-up, adherence, and related infections. The team will include on-the-ground qualitative interviews (for example in Kenya) to hear how droughts and floods change food access, travel, and medicine use. Findings will be used to identify points where programs or policies could reduce weather-driven interruptions in HIV care.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help clinics and governments plan for extreme weather so people with HIV stay on treatment and avoid care disruptions.
How similar studies have gone: Some cross-sectional and preliminary analyses have linked drought or excess rainfall to worse HIV outcomes, but rigorous longitudinal and causal studies like this are relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
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Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Nash, Denis — Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy
- Study coordinator: Nash, Denis
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.