Achievement

CHANGE IGERT faculty members Jonathan Patz and Jon Foley collaborated for an interdisciplinary paper on weather effects on malaria in the Amazon. Published in the April 2009 issue of CDC’s journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases, the team of health and climate scientists found that rainfall events decreased malaria incidence in areas with an abundance of surface water-contradicting models that predict a uniform uptick in the disease across the Amazon, where nearly 1 million cases of malaria occur each year. The teams findings show striking differences in malaria’s response to weather fluctuations across the Amazon basin. The research provides an opportunity for health officials to better target disease prevention measures. This collaboration has served as preliminary data for a newly submitted grant to NIH, entitled 'HealthScapes.' It is highly transdisciplinary and involves IGERT faculty and students, and incorporates climate, landscape, social, and health analytical tools.