Science & Health

A large study led by Harvard Chan School researchers found that people who closely followed the Planetary Health Diet—which emphasizes minimally processed whole grains and vegetables but allows for some meat and dairy—significantly lowered their risk of premature death while also reducing their carbon footprint.

Harvard assistant professor and physician Garaub Basu is collaborating with students, clinicians, and leaders to embed climate change into medical curricula and continuing medical education.

Air pollution from gas and propane stoves has caused about 50,000 current cases of childhood asthma nationwide, and people living in smaller homes are more likely to be affected, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard and Stanford Universities.

Stricter new federal regulations on deadly fine particulate air pollution in the U.S. were announced on February 7, 2024, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health research played a key role in the decision.

Kari Nadeau MD ’92, PhD ’95, chair of the Harvard Chan School’s Department of Environmental Health, says there is strong evidence that climate change is driving a global epidemic of immune health problems.

PhD candidate Heidi Pickard studies the impact of precursors to PFAS—the “forever” chemicals that contaminate our water and food—which many industries have shifted toward to skirt regulations.

Renee Salas MPH ’16 is one of a growing number of physicians providing key evidence to support youth-led legal movements that center on the fundamental right to a healthy climate.

Thirty years ago, Harvard’s Six Cities Study was the first to link excess mortality in six U.S. cities to emissions of PM2.5—findings that prompted new regulations on industrial smokestack emissions.

Exposure to fine particulate air pollutants from coal-fired power plants (coal PM2.5) is associated with a risk of mortality more than double that of exposure to PM2.5 from other sources, according to a new study led by George Mason University, University of Texas at Austin, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

An EPA plan to eliminate all of the nation’s lead pipes in 10 years relies heavily on research conducted by wife-and-husband team Ronnie Levin, instructor of environmental health, and Joel Schwartz, professor of environmental epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School.