U54TW012083
Cooperative Agreement
Overview
Grant Description
Developing Data Science Solutions to Mitigate the Health Impacts of Climate Change in Africa: The HE2AT Center - HE2AT Center Overall - Project Summary/Abstract
The world's climate is changing rapidly, with global temperatures having risen more than 1°C since the Industrial Revolution, and a further 0.5°C increase is likely by 2040. Heat waves and rising temperatures have major, though underappreciated, health implications, particularly for vulnerable populations in low-income settings.
The overarching objective of the Heat and Health African Transdisciplinary Center (HE2AT Center) is to develop innovative solutions to mitigate the health impacts of climate change in Africa. The consortium of academic and non-academic partners is drawn from across sub-Saharan Africa and from the United States, and constitutes a transdisciplinary group, including heat physiologists, biomedical and climate content experts, public health practitioners, social-behavioral scientists, as well as statisticians, and computer and data scientists.
The center will systematically develop a data ecosystem containing biomedical data, integrated with weather, air quality, and other environmental data, and other geospatial data within two existing highly-complementary data platforms (IBM-PAIRS and the University of Cape Town). Over five years, we will implement two research projects and 10-12 pilot projects, all streamlined and supported by the administration, data management and analysis, and training and engagement cores.
The first project will implement an innovative data science approach to characterize the clinical outcomes of heat exposure in pregnant women and neonates. We will reuse data from cohorts and trials among pregnant women and neonates conducted across sub-Saharan Africa since the year 2000. Data from systematically identified studies will be integrated into an individual participant data platform from data repositories and data owners. Then, analyses of relationships between heat exposure and outcomes (preterm birth, birth weight, and pre-eclampsia) will inform quantification of heat-related disease burden. Finally, taking all findings together, we will pilot a district-level climate change indicator, the first of its kind.
The second project assesses the burden of heat-related morbidity in vulnerable urban settings using geospatial and heat hazard analyses in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, and Johannesburg, South Africa. This project uses more complex data and data sources on the built environment and topography, for example, to assess heat-health impacts, and how these vary across urban geographies. Activities will inform the development of an early warning system, including a digital app that delivers information to people on their forecasted risks of heat-health disease, based on their individualized risk profile, as determined by a machine learning algorithm which takes into account weather conditions, individual characteristics, geolocation, and other factors that drive risk. These systems are a central element in heatwave responses, allow for adequate preparations for heat events, which is especially important for vulnerable groups and industry.
We will collaborate closely with other hubs and parts of the DS-I Africa Consortium, supporting them to incorporate climate data within their research activities, and vice versa.
The world's climate is changing rapidly, with global temperatures having risen more than 1°C since the Industrial Revolution, and a further 0.5°C increase is likely by 2040. Heat waves and rising temperatures have major, though underappreciated, health implications, particularly for vulnerable populations in low-income settings.
The overarching objective of the Heat and Health African Transdisciplinary Center (HE2AT Center) is to develop innovative solutions to mitigate the health impacts of climate change in Africa. The consortium of academic and non-academic partners is drawn from across sub-Saharan Africa and from the United States, and constitutes a transdisciplinary group, including heat physiologists, biomedical and climate content experts, public health practitioners, social-behavioral scientists, as well as statisticians, and computer and data scientists.
The center will systematically develop a data ecosystem containing biomedical data, integrated with weather, air quality, and other environmental data, and other geospatial data within two existing highly-complementary data platforms (IBM-PAIRS and the University of Cape Town). Over five years, we will implement two research projects and 10-12 pilot projects, all streamlined and supported by the administration, data management and analysis, and training and engagement cores.
The first project will implement an innovative data science approach to characterize the clinical outcomes of heat exposure in pregnant women and neonates. We will reuse data from cohorts and trials among pregnant women and neonates conducted across sub-Saharan Africa since the year 2000. Data from systematically identified studies will be integrated into an individual participant data platform from data repositories and data owners. Then, analyses of relationships between heat exposure and outcomes (preterm birth, birth weight, and pre-eclampsia) will inform quantification of heat-related disease burden. Finally, taking all findings together, we will pilot a district-level climate change indicator, the first of its kind.
The second project assesses the burden of heat-related morbidity in vulnerable urban settings using geospatial and heat hazard analyses in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, and Johannesburg, South Africa. This project uses more complex data and data sources on the built environment and topography, for example, to assess heat-health impacts, and how these vary across urban geographies. Activities will inform the development of an early warning system, including a digital app that delivers information to people on their forecasted risks of heat-health disease, based on their individualized risk profile, as determined by a machine learning algorithm which takes into account weather conditions, individual characteristics, geolocation, and other factors that drive risk. These systems are a central element in heatwave responses, allow for adequate preparations for heat events, which is especially important for vulnerable groups and industry.
We will collaborate closely with other hubs and parts of the DS-I Africa Consortium, supporting them to incorporate climate data within their research activities, and vice versa.
Awardee
Funding Goals
NOT APPLICABLE
Grant Program (CFDA)
Awarding Agency
Place of Performance
South Africa
Geographic Scope
Foreign
Related Opportunity
Analysis Notes
Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 653% from $899,982 to $6,779,346.
Wits Health Consortium (Pty) was awarded
Data Science Solutions for Health Impacts of Climate Change in Africa
Cooperative Agreement U54TW012083
worth $6,779,346
from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in September 2021 with work to be completed primarily in South Africa.
The grant
has a duration of 4 years 9 months and
was awarded through assistance program 93.310 Trans-NIH Research Support.
The Cooperative Agreement was awarded through grant opportunity Harnessing Data Science for Health Discovery and Innovation in Africa (DS-I Africa) Research Hubs (U54 Clinical Trial Optional).
Status
(Ongoing)
Last Modified 9/24/25
Period of Performance
9/15/21
Start Date
6/30/26
End Date
Funding Split
$6.8M
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$6.8M
Total Obligated
Activity Timeline
Transaction History
Modifications to U54TW012083
Additional Detail
Award ID FAIN
U54TW012083
SAI Number
U54TW012083-628010368
Award ID URI
SAI UNAVAILABLE
Awardee Classifications
Non-Domestic (Non-U.S.) Entity
Awarding Office
75NF00 NIH Fogarty International Center
Funding Office
75NA00 NIH OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR
Awardee UEI
KNNNGEN9MQB8
Awardee CAGE
SBN74
Performance District
Not Applicable
Budget Funding
| Federal Account | Budget Subfunction | Object Class | Total | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, Health and Human Services (075-0846) | Health research and training | Grants, subsidies, and contributions (41.0) | $1,798,034 | 69% |
| National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Health and Human Services (075-0862) | Health research and training | Grants, subsidies, and contributions (41.0) | $800,000 | 31% |
Modified: 9/24/25