Senior researcher Professor Shilu Tong of QUT's School of Public Health/Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) has just been awarded a 5-year National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Research Fellowship to pursue a range of research projects that look at the effects of ecosystem change on population health.
The projects include research into the health effects of heatwaves and the impact of climate change on vector-borne diseases.
Professor Tong said that the magnitude, duration and frequency of heatwaves are likely to increase as global climate change continues.
"Heatwaves have already had a significant impact on and will increasingly affect population health," Professor Tong said.
He said that climate change will also influence the pattern of infectious diseases, including vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue and Ross River virus.
"Many infectious diseases are sensitive to climate variability as climate could influence the development and transmissibility of pathogens, and also affect people's behaviour."
