Fall 2025 Cohort
Is it already too hot to work? Protecting work and workers in a warming world
Focused on addressing global rising temperatures and the research and policy gaps that leave 2 billion workers around the world vulnerable, this working group will be assessing the efficacy and economic impacts of heat adaptation measures such as cool roofs, heat insurance, worker rest breaks and sanitation measures, and flexible work-times. The assessment will include comparing worker heat protections and regulations across major global economies and examining national and local approaches, with a special focus on improving protections for informal, migrant, and undocumented workers. This project will leverage the cross-disciplinary expertise of collaborators from Harvard’s Medical, Law, Public Health, and Design Schools; leading global institutions such as the University of Oxford, BRAC University, the University of Thessaly, and the University of California, Los Angeles; as well as organizations including the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), the Atlantic Council, and the Ford Foundation.
Faculty Leads
Dr. Satchit Balsari, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Sharon Block, JD, Professor of Practice, Harvard Law School and Executive Director at Labor & Worklife Program, Harvard Law School
Food Systems, Vulnerability, and Adolescent Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Urgent Call for Integrated Action
This scholarly working group aims to address the multifaceted challenges facing adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Threats to health in the region, including food insecurity and economic instability, are exacerbated by unpredictable growing seasons, prolonged droughts, and economic pressures, which reduce agricultural yields and access to nutritious food. Adolescents are uniquely impacted, with malnutrition impairing their physical, cognitive, and mental health, while social inequalities expose girls to greater risks like anemia, and boys to being pulled from school for labor. Despite these dire consequences, adolescents remain largely invisible in research and policy. The project will work to build a multidisciplinary, community-engaged framework that bridges research, policy, and practice to address the interconnected challenges facing adolescents in SSA, with a focus on food security, nutrition, health, and education and a recognition of adolescents as key agents of change.
Faculty Lead
Professor Wafaie W. Fawzi, Richard Saltonstall Professor of Population Sciences, and Professor of Nutrition, Epidemiology, and Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health