About the NORI Lab

The NORI (Natural hazards, Outcomes Research, and health Inequities) lab, led by Dr. Amruta Nori-Sarma in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, investigates how extreme weather events and environmental exposures drive health disparities across the lifecourse. With a particular focus on populations that bear a disproportionate burden of climate-related harm, the lab uses a multi-level framework to understand how physical and built environment exposures interact with sociocultural and healthcare system factors to produce unequal health outcomes across underserved communities. 

Drawing on large-scale administrative data, clinical records, and novel environmental sensor networks, the lab links ambient temperature and air quality exposures to outcomes ranging from emergency department visits and hospitalizations to psychiatric crises, with particular attention to individuals who are often excluded from traditional health data sources, including unhoused and uninsured populations.  

Across a portfolio of active projects, the NORI Lab works at the intersection of environmental epidemiology, health disparities research, and climate adaptation. Current work includes the CAFE initiative, the PRIME-Boston project (through a partnership with the Boston Emergency Services Team at BMC), a collaboration with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office on cumulative hazards estimation, and a Wellcome Trust project led by Dr. Mary Rice examining heat and air quality interactions in the United States. A growing focus of the lab is the mental health consequences of extreme weather-related exposures, an area where community-level and societal-level stressors remain poorly quantified.

Across all of this work, the NORI Lab is committed to translating epidemiologic findings into actionable guidance for policymakers, health systems, and communities working to reduce disparities in climate-related health burdens.