Launch of the E-CHANGE project on climate and health

E-CHANGE is a research project launched by the Epidemiology Unit of the University of Turin together with the Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino teaching hospital, dedicated to studying the effects of climate change on human health, from the short to the long term. The project is funded by the Italian Science Fund (FIS 2) of the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) [1][2].

Objectives and method

The acronym E-CHANGE stands for "boosting Epidemiological methods to assess human health risks in a CHANGing climatE". The project stems from the observation that most existing studies focus on a single health outcome and a limited time span, whereas the effects of climate change can emerge over very different timeframes: the consequences of a heatwave may appear within a few days, while those of exposure to extreme weather events during pregnancy or childhood may only become apparent years later [2].

The research integrates epidemiology, biostatistics, molecular biology and climate science, and focuses on Italy, described as a country particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, with the aim of producing knowledge and methods that can also be applied in other contexts [2].

The two research areas

The project is organized into two strands. The first concerns the short-term effects of extreme weather events: it will analyze the consequences of heatwaves, wildfires and floods on daily mortality in Italy, along with the role of climate conditions in the spread of vector-borne diseases, such as West Nile virus infections, dengue and Lyme disease [2].

The second area concerns the long-term effects of climate exposures during pregnancy and childhood, periods of particular vulnerability. Researchers will assess the possible consequences of extreme weather events on growth and respiratory health, also examining biological changes measurable through epigenetics [1][2].

Data and infrastructure

To carry out the analyses, E-CHANGE will use large climate, environmental and health databases, integrating national mortality data, infectious disease surveillance systems and information from two Italian mother-child cohorts, NINFEA and Piccolipiù. The project involves building an interoperable infrastructure capable of linking different sources and providing a database that can also be used for future research on environment, climate and health [2].

Pages linking here

Sources

ANSA Piemonte — 21 September 2026
TorinoOggi — 21 September 2026

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