Dr Eunice Lo receiving her award (l) and planting a Prunus lusitanica ‘Angustifolia’ (Portuguese Cherry Laurel) gifted by the Medical Research Foundation, in the University of Bristol Botanic Garden European Mediterranean flora collection (r).
The Medical Research Foundation has recognised Dr Eunice Lo from the University of Bristol in its 2024 Emerging Leaders Prize for scientists who are on an exciting upward trajectory to lead unique and innovative research in their field. Eunice Lo is a Climate Change and Health Fellow at Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research and Cabot Institute for the Environment.
These two institutes, and researchers they support, are working together to improve our knowledge of the impacts of climate change on our human and planetary health. The Climate Change and Health research programme brings together experts from different disciplines to understand and address the complex and interwoven areas of climate and health.
A spokesperson from Medical Research Foundation said: “We are already witnessing the catastrophic impacts of climate change on health, from changing and unpredictable patterns of infectious disease to heat-related illnesses and deaths. That’s why we are focusing more of our funding on the impact of climate change on health. Through the Emerging Leaders Prize, we are building on this support, helping future science leaders in the UK to advance their research and careers. Our 2024 winners are both making a significant impact in climate and health research.”
Eunice Lo said: “I’m delighted to receive this award from the Medical Research Foundation. Extreme weather and climate change are not just physical phenomena; they have real-life impacts both at home and abroad, on people’s health and on our health system.
“Recent research of mine shows that there were more deaths associated with very hot and very cold temperatures in 2020-2022, than there were deaths related to COVID-19, in South West England.
“Research that links up climate science with health science is extremely important. I will use the Emerging Leaders Prize money to launch a nation-wide UK Climate Impacts on Health Meeting, which will have a specific focus on human morbidity. This work requires collaborations with researchers and stakeholders in other fields, access to new health data, and learning research techniques outside of climate science.
“By coming together with our respective expertise from different disciplines, we will be able to get closer to finding the true health burden of some of the extreme weather events. We’ll be able to estimate the probability of these events and their health impacts occurring again in the future. And, by doing so, we will be better prepared for future weather and climate extremes.”
Find out more about Medical Research Foundation’s Emerging Leaders Prize