India Research Center
The India Research Center, based in Mumbai, serves as a hub for Harvard Chan School’s research projects, educational programs, and knowledge translation and communication work across India.
Dextrus, 6th floor,
Peninsula Towers,
Peninsula Corporate Park,
Lower Parel, Mumbai 400013
India
Improving Public Health Through Climate Action
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health – India Research Center is pleased to organize a workshop titled “Improving Public Health Through Climate Action” in Mumbai, on June 9-10, 2026.
This workshop is ideal for professionals and researchers in public health and policy, interested in climate and health solutions.
Application Deadline: April 12, 2026
Climate change is no longer a distant threat; it is a current public health crisis. For health professionals in India, the intersection of environmental shifts and disease patterns presents a critical challenge, and a unique opportunity for leadership. This workshop is designed to equip medical and public health professionals and researchers with the tools to more actively engage stakeholders in climate policy to improve the health of the community.
Understanding the Impact
We will describe the mechanisms through which climate change, air pollution, and ecological degradation impact human health, and review the latest global research alongside emerging localized evidence.
From Research to Policy: Case Studies in Action
To illustrate how data can drive systemic change, we will present three ongoing high-impact projects:
- National Policy Integration: How researchers are using climate modeling to quantify the health “co-benefits” of carbon emission reduction through energy policy choices, directly influencing India’s national climate strategies.
- Urban Transformation: Discuss how health data is being leveraged to support city mayors in Delhi and Chennai to accelerate the transition to a cleaner energy grid.
- Rural Intervention: A case study evaluating the behavioral and economic barriers, and health outcomes resulting from the adoption of clean cook stoves in a rural coal mining community.
Empowering Your Practice
The core of this workshop is interactive. We invite you to consider: How can your clinical or research expertise support evidence-based decision-making? Participants will brainstorm how to utilize existing data to engage with stakeholders (from local panchayats to national ministries) to protect the communities they serve.
Objectives
- Understand the impact of climate change on health
- Discuss opportunities to use community-engaged research to support evidence-based decision-making at different levels of government
- Consider ways in which climate policy can improve the health of communities you serve
Speakers
About the Faculty
Dr. Gaurab Basu, MD, MPH is a physician and assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and assistant professor of global health & social medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS).
At Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, he is an assistant professor of environmental health and faculty at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (Harvard Chan C-CHANGE) and Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights. His work focuses on the intersection of climate change, global health equity, human rights, medical education, and public policy.
Dr. Basu currently serves as senior advisor of the climate and health program at the Child in Need Institute (CINI), an India based NGO, and previously worked for the Gates Institute, Partners in Health, and Last Mile Health. His NIH funded projects incorporate community engagement and research translation into climate and health research. He is on the board of directors of the Environmental League of Massachusetts and the advisory council for the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. He also serves on the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the U.S. Health Sector and the Boston Green Ribbon Commission’s Healthcare Working Group.
In 2021, Dr. Basu was named to the Grist 50 list of national climate leaders. In 2018, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation selected him to their Culture of Health Leadership fellowship. Dr. Basu served as an advisor to the Massachusetts Governor’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) as a member of the Implementation Advisory Committee and the Climate Science Advisory Panel. He was on the city of Cambridge Mayor’s Climate Crisis Working Group and its Net-Zero Climate Task Force. His work has been featured by the New York Times, NPR’s All Things Considered, Boston Globe, CNN, Scientific American, BMJ, and Grist, among others.