# Center for Transformative Infectious Disease Research on Climate, Health and Equity in a Changing Environment (C-CHANGE)

> **NIH NIH P20** · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $177,803

## Abstract

Some of the greatest human health impacts from climate change are mediated by infectious diseases. Billions
are at risk annually from malaria alone, and viral pathogen spillover events and spread of vector-borne
diseases (VBD) are increasing due to climate change. In response to these urgent threats, Cornell University
and the University of Pretoria have newly partnered to create the Center for Transformative Infectious Disease
Research on Climate, Health, and Equity in a Changing Environment (C-CHANGE). To have the greatest
health impacts, we must change our research paradigms from reactively focusing on responding to outbreaks
to proactively understanding the complex social and environmental determinants that shape risk and promote
outbreaks. As a whole, C-CHANGE hypothesizes that community-engaged research that integrates human,
reservoir and vector behavior, climate, land-use, human and animal health, and vector/pathogen genomic
evolution datasets, will enable future creation of predictive epidemiological models and generation and rigorous
testing of preventative interventions. Working toward these goals, C-CHANGE’s Community Engagement Core
(CEC) will intersect with and support the aims of CHANGE’s Administrative Core, Living Evidence Data Core,
Project 1 Research Team (climate extremes and land use changes result in wildlife-to-human viral spillover
events), and Project 2 Research Team (community-based early warning system for climate-sensitive VBD can
promote human health), and will specifically work to foster collaborative, community-engaged research teams
that generate hypotheses and extend projects, and generate and use data to improve infectious disease
prevention and community resilience. The CEC will build upon robust community engagement seeded by C-
CHANGE members, and augment approaches and outcomes under the co-leadership of Meredith-ESI and van
Wyk. Over the next 3 years, to build reciprocal community engaged research relationships for the future, the
CEC will (1) Promote and enhance community engagement in guiding C-CHANGE’s work by establishing
community-imbedded action research partnerships, and creating standard processes and venues to support
communication of community ideas, issues, needs, and concerns to C-CHANGE’s members to inform and
guide research activities that address community needs; (2) Aid communities in using [C-CHANGE] data and
research to spur systems change by advancing partner communities’ scientific literacy in climate and one
health, including via sharing data and C-CHANGE research results into plain, action-focused language; and (3)
Establish benefits and scalability of the CEC approach by applying mixed methods developmental evaluation
to document processes, resource needs, outputs, and outcomes derived from CEC actions. Anticipated
outcomes include at least 6 active hypothesis-driven CBPR projects across 2 continents, and documentation of
expanded capacity and process/ systems change showing how resear...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10982892
- **Project number:** 1P20AI186093-01
- **Recipient organization:** CORNELL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Genevive Meredith
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $177,803
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-17 → 2027-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10982892

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10982892, Center for Transformative Infectious Disease Research on Climate, Health and Equity in a Changing Environment (C-CHANGE) (1P20AI186093-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10982892. Licensed CC0.

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