# Short- and long-term health consequences of workers during consecutive days of heat stress

> **NIH ALLCDC K01** · STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO · 2022 · $108,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Riana Pryor, PhD, ATC is an exercise scientist and clinician with a career goal of becoming an independent
investigator identifying strategies that minimize the impact of challenging environments on worker health and
safety. Candidate: Dr. Pryor is an Assistant Professor of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at the University at
Buffalo. Her research explores heat strain during physical activity in laboratory and field settings. Training:
The proposed career development plan will build upon her previous experience to achieve the following
training aims: 1) develop expertise in the use of wearable technologies to monitor worker fatigue and prevent
injury, and 2) acquire expertise in the impact of repeated heat exposures on human health. Dr. David Hostler
will serve as her primary mentor with Drs. Lora Cavuoto, Zachary Schlader, and Gregory Wilding rounding out
the mentorship team. Research: Heat stress increases musculoskeletal injury risk and reduces productivity
due to fatigue, hyperthermia, and dehydration, which negatively impacts multiple NORA industry sectors (i.e.,
Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing, Construction, Manufacturing, Oil and Gas Extraction, Public Safety,
Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities). Additionally, there are long term health consequences to repeated
heat exposures that are only now being articulated. As an example, a growing body of research associates
consecutive days of acute kidney injury as a contributor to chronic kidney disease. Therefore, there is a critical
need to understand the degree to which current NIOSH recommendations for work in the heat adequately
manage fatigue, hyperthermia, and dehydration to minimize injury and illness. Without thoughtful evolution of
these recommendations, workers may be at unnecessary risk of short-term (e.g., musculoskeletal injury) or
long-term (e.g., chronic kidney disease) deleterious health consequences. Our study will quantify fatigue
during consecutive days of work in the heat while adhering to the NIOSH recommendations. Secondly, the
impact of consecutive heat exposures on biomarkers of acute kidney injury will be determined. Summary: This
proposal addresses the NIOSH strategic goals of reducing musculoskeletal disorders and chronic diseases.
We address the NIOSH intermediate goal of monitoring risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders and
understand chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology. These data will inform the NIOSH recommendations,
resulting in multiple papers and presentations, and preliminary data for a future R01 examining the impact of
heat strain on worker health throughout a work week. Future studies will explore factors impacting heat strain
to refine prevention strategies. The research to practice framework will be embraced by evaluating intervention
effectiveness to reduce health risks associated with heat exposures in laboratory and field settings in future
grant submissions. Successful interventions will be translated and ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10493062
- **Project number:** 5K01OH012016-02
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO
- **Principal Investigator:** Riana R Pryor
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $108,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-30 → 2023-09-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10493062

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10493062, Short- and long-term health consequences of workers during consecutive days of heat stress (5K01OH012016-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10493062. Licensed CC0.

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