New Grants for Collaborative Projects to Research the Impact of Climate Change on Health

The Medical Research Foundation has allocated £4 million for a new research grant programme – Impact of Climate Change on Health Research Grants – to support mid-career researchers in the UK and sub-Saharan Africa conducting collaborative projects that will increase understanding of the underpinning mechanisms and processes involved in the impact of climate change on health, including infectious diseases and other non-infectious health outcomes that disproportionately affect tropical regions.

The proposed research should be predominantly based in a sub-Saharan African context and have a ‘view to action’, with a clear proposal on how the research results could be taken forward for interventions and implementation in the future. Grants can be used to conduct research studies, generate data and sustainable collaborations, and develop the basis for further research and competitive research proposals for larger funding.

Grants are a maximum of £300,000, over three years, to fund direct research costs and also overhead costs for the African research organisation. The funding is also intended to support researchers who are seeking to develop careers in the health impacts of climate change field and are making the transition to research independence.

Research proposals could include, but are not limited to

• Understanding of the biological mechanisms underpinning the impact of climate change on human health.
• The development and implementation of treatments for climate-change related illnesses.
• Understanding and reducing the impact of climate change on health and well-being.

Proposed projects must be collaborative and involve a mid-career researcher who is a national of a sub-Saharan African country and based at an established legal entity in a sub-Saharan African country, and a mid-career researcher based at an HEI, Research Council research institute, hospital or other independent research organisation in the UK.

Proposals should be submitted to the Medical Research Foundation by the deadline on 13 September 2022.

Successful applicants will be announced in March 2023.