Fall 2025 Cohort

Co-led by Satchit Balsari, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Associate Professor in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Sharon Block, Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School and Executive Director of the Labor and Worklife Program, the Heat and Worker Protections Scholarly Working Group brings together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and labor organizations to address global rising temperatures and the research and policy gaps that leave 2 billion workers around the world vulnerable. This working group is looking at 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.

This group leverages 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

Satchit Balsari, MD, MPH — Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Associate Professor, Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Sharon Block, JD — Professor of Practice and Executive Director, Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School

Conference

The working group convened a two-day meeting during Boston Climate Week, bringing together city officials, researchers, and practitioners from across the United States to explore strategies for protecting communities and workers from the growing risks of extreme heat.

Participants took part in an interactive simulation, breakout discussions, and expert-led sessions on topics including thermal physiology, heat-related mortality, and impacts on energy infrastructure. Panel discussions focused on health, habitat, and labor, with insights from the meeting informing a forthcoming resource, Letters to a New Heat Officer, designed to support local leaders developing heat resilience strategies.

The event was co-hosted by the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, Harvard Urban Health Initiative, the Harvard Global Health Institute Heat and Worker Protections Scholarly Working Group, and CrisisReady at the Harvard Data Science Initiative.

Resources

Heat & Worker Safety: 12 Common Myths & What the Evidence Actually Shows

May’s heatwaves offer early warning for workers

Finding Problems Worth Solving: A Design Thinking Approach in Global Health

This scholarly working group is working 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 works 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