Skip to main content
Urban Environment Sustainable SDGs
metamorworks - stock.adobe.com

Environmental Risks

We investigate how environmental factors like air pollution, temperature, weather events, climate change, noise, and green space affect health, with a focus on cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in adults. 
 

We investigate how environmental factors like air pollution, temperature, weather events, climate change, noise, and green space affect health, with a focus on cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in adults. 
 

About our Research

The environments where we live and work can profoundly affect our health. While quiet, green environments with good air quality can promote good health and wellbeing, environments with air pollution, traffic and industrial noise, extreme temperatures, and extreme weather events can cause a variety of health problems. Even small amounts of air pollution, low levels of noise, and less intense exposure to summer heat or winter cold can lead to poor health outcomes in some vulnerable groups. Environmental exposures can sometimes also work together to create better or worse health outcomes – for example, the combination of air pollution and high temperatures is especially bad for our health.  

 

In our working group, we study the short- (acute) and long-term (chronic) beneficial and adverse health impacts of environmental factors such as air pollution, meteorology, climate change, noise, and urban greenness. We study the impact of the environment on a variety of health outcomes, but focus in particular on cardiovascular, metabolic, and mental health in adults. We aim to provide new evidence on the interplay between environmental factors, exposure-response functions, underlying health mechanisms, and subclinical phenotypes. We also investigate differences by sex or gender, and whether certain population subgroups (such as the elderly, children, or people with chronic illnesses) are especially susceptible. 

People at Environmental Risks

Porträt Alexandra Schneider

Dr. Alexandra Schneider

Deputy Director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Head of Research Group 'Environmental Risks', Senior Scientist View profile
Porträt Kathrin Wolf

Dr. Kathrin Wolf

Senior Scientist; Deputy Head of Research Group 'Environmental Risks' View profile
Porträt Sarah Wagner

Sarah Wagner

PhD Student
Maximilian Schwarz Portrait

Dr. Maximilian Schwarz

Postdoctoral Researcher
Porträt Ute Kraus

Dr. Ute Kraus

Senior Scientist
Porträt Minqi Liao

Min-qi Liao

PhD Student
Porträt Nikolaos Nikolaou

Dr. Nikolaos Nikolaou

Postdoctoral Researcher
Porträt Hanna Feldbusch

Hanna Feldbusch

PhD Student
Qingkui Li Portrait

Qingkui Li

PhD Student
Portrait Claire Coffey

Claire Coffey

Postdoc
Porträt Marco Dallavalle

Dr. Marco Dallavalle

Data Manager
Porträt Uta Geruchkat

Uta Geruschkat

Data Manager
Porträt Sandra Claire Slesinski

Claire Slesinski

Scientist
Porträt Yujiao Li

Yujiao Li

PhD Student
Portrait Franziska Matthies

Dr. Eva-Franziska Matthies-Wiesler

Senior Scientist
Porträt Hitha Ramakrishnan

Hitha Krishna Chirakundil Ramakrishnan

Data Manager

Current Projects

Health Effects of Air Pollution | Viral Infections

Funded by DFG | 2021-2025

CovGenAir

The role of chronic diseases, environmental and genetic influences on the infection with SARS-CoV-2: boosters, effect modifiers or mediators?

Health Effects of Weather and Climate 

Funded by Helmholtz Associations INF | 2019-2025

HI-CAM I & II

Helmholtz-Initiative Climate Adaptation and Mitigation: two Sides of the same Coin

Health Effects of Air Pollution & Weather and Climate

Funded by BMBF | 2023-2028

IMPAC2T

Impact of air pollution and rising temperatures on human health and vegetation

Health Effects of Weather and Climate

Funded by Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss | 2024-2027

KlimGesVor

Effects of climate change on the healthcare of patients with cardiovascular, metabolic, and respiratory diseases

Health Effects of Air Pollution & Weather and Climate

No specific funding | Since 2013 

MCC Collaborative Research Network

A multi-country multi-city collaboration on a program of research on associations between environmental stressors, climate, and health

Since 2006 

Project - Collaborations with US EPA

Health Effects of Weather and Climate 

Funded by UBA | 2022-2025

Social dimensions of climate change impacts and development of policy instruments

 

Health Effects of Traffic-Related Air Pollution

Funded by Health Effects Institute | 2024-2026

TRANSCAPE 

Impacts of future urban mobility patterns and novel personalized air pollution exposure estimation on cardiometabolic health 

Completed Projects

Health Effects of Air Pollution | Viral Infections

Funded by Health Effects Institute | 2021-2024

AIR-LOCK

Effect of air pollution reductions on mortality during the COVID-19 lockdown: A natural experiment study

 

Health Effects of Weather and Climate

Funded by EU | 2021-2024

ATTACH

ATTributing heAt-related excess mortality and morbidity to Climate cHange

Health Effects of Air Pollution

Funded by Health Effects Institute | 2016-2021

ELAPSE

Effects of Low-Level Air Pollution: a Study in Europe

Health Effects of Weather and Climate

Funded by EU | 2019-2024

EXHAUSTION

Exposure to heat and air pollution in Europe – cardiopulmonary impacts and benefits of mitigation and adaptation

Viral Infections

Funded by ECF | 2020-2021

Impact of environmental factors on viruses/ virus infections - a systematic review

Crosstopic Projects

Funded by BMBF | 2017-2022

INGER

Integrating gender into environmental health research: Building a sound evidence basis for gender-sensitive prevention and environmental health

Crosstopic Projects

Funded by Helmholtz Associations INF | 2021-2023

MetaMap3

Metadata generation, enrichment and linkage across the three domains health, environment and earth observation

Health Effects of Environmental Noise

Funded by Helmholtz Associations INF | 2021-2023

Noise2NAKO(AI)

AI Methods linking Environment and Health - a large-scale cohort application

Health Effects of Weather and Climate 

Funded by BMBF | 2023-2024

PHONIC

Public Health Operations for Climate Change Action – Development of a framework to identify priority operations

Health Effects of Air Pollution

Funded by DFG | 2019-2024

RADIOMICS

Patterns of White Matter Lesions in the Brain: Impact of Air Pollution on the Variability of Lifetime Trajectories

Health Effects of Air Pollution

Funded by STMUV | 2020-2024

UFP@NAKOBayern

Long-term exposure to ultrafine particles and health effects in Bavarian centers of the NAKO study

Highlighted Publications

See all

Contact Head

Porträt Alexandra Schneider

Dr. Alexandra Schneider

Deputy Director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Head of Research Group 'Environmental Risks', Senior Scientist

Building 56, Room 247

Contact Deputy Head

Porträt Kathrin Wolf

Dr. Kathrin Wolf

Senior Scientist; Deputy Head of Research Group 'Environmental Risks'

Building 56, Room 247a