Protecting people in Africa from harmful heat
Official title: Developing data science solutions to mitigate the health impacts of heat in Africa: the HE2AT Center Project
Funded at Wits Health Consortium (Pty), LTD · NIH-11396881 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project builds data tools to help communities and health teams prevent heat-related illness, with special focus on pregnant women and newborns in sub-Saharan Africa.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Wits Health Consortium (Pty), LTD NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Parktown, South Africa) |
| Project start | September 15, 2021 |
| Project end | June 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $186,232 |
| NIH project number | 3U54TW012083-05S3 |
| Project ID | NIH-11396881 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People most relevant are pregnant women, newborns (and their caregivers), and community members living in heat-exposed areas of sub-Saharan Africa covered by participating cohorts or health programs.
✕Less likely to help
People who live outside the covered regions or who are not part of the linked cohorts and datasets are unlikely to see direct benefits from this Center's work.
What this research studies
The Center combines health records with local weather, air quality, and location data to find when and where heat is harming people. The team will reuse existing cohort and trial data from pregnant women and newborns across sub-Saharan Africa and link those records to environmental information using advanced data-science platforms. Over five years they will run two main research projects and about a dozen pilot projects, supported by cores for data management, training, and community engagement. Local and international partners aim to turn findings into practical warnings, clinical guidance, and public-health actions.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could produce warning systems, clinical guidance, and policies that reduce heat-related illness and better protect pregnant women and babies.
How similar studies have gone: Linking health and weather data has helped identify heat risks in other places, but applying large-scale data science to protect pregnant women and newborns in sub-Saharan Africa is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Wits Health Consortium (Pty), LTD
Parktown, South Africa Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Chersich, Matthew Francis — Wits Health Consortium (Pty), LTD
- Study coordinator: Chersich, Matthew Francis
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.