Wellcome Trust

In extreme temperatures, the body can take in more heat than it can release, leading to heat stress. That means it has to work harder to keep internal temperatures down, which can push organs to their limits. Dizziness, breathing difficulties and heart attacks are just some of the health effects this can lead to. Read our explainer to learn how extreme heat impacts health, who is most at risk – and what can be done to help 💡 https://lnkd.in/gPER7hri

A new, low-cost oral cholera vaccine has just launched. The breakthrough HillChol vaccine provides an affordable, efficient and accessible intervention for a life-threatening disease that affects millions of people every year. "This new vaccine is a promising step towards increasing the global supply," said Alexander Pym, Wellcome’s Director of Infectious Disease. "[It] will provide much-needed protection to vulnerable populations." Today’s announcement follows the successful completion of Phase III clinical trials — a significant milestone in global health made possible by an extensive international collaboration between Wellcome, Hilleman Laboratories, MSD, Bharat Biotech , the University of Gothenburg and Gotovax AB. Raman Rao, the CEO of Hilleman Laboratories, explains more ⤵️

“Some of the really contemporary questions in mental health actually have a long history and are connected to theories in the past.” The History of Causes project, funded by Wellcome, is an interactive timeline tracing 200 years of perceived causes of mental health problems. It aims to help researchers understand how these ideas have developed over time. But what can we learn from this? Find out from experts working on the project: https://lnkd.in/ebigpYkz

Nearly 50% of people with Parkinson’s disease will develop dementia within ten years of diagnosis. How exactly does dementia happen in Parkinson’s? That’s what we’re funding Dr Rimona Weil at UCL, pictured below, to investigate. She’s using advanced neuroimaging to measure the build-up of proteins in patient’s brains to better understand the disease and help target the right treatments for the right people. “I’m doing this research because, ultimately, I want to be able to slow the progression of Parkinson's dementia by targeting the right treatments to individual patients,” says Rimona. “All this is possible because of Wellcome’s Discovery Research Career Development Awards,” she adds. “The award has allowed me to be ambitious about the questions that I'm asking and think much more broadly.” Hear more from Rimona about her research on Parkinson’s dementia ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/et_YHYBN Photo credit: Patrick Shepherd / Wellcome

Will climate change lead to more antimicrobial resistance? Researchers estimate that 1.27 million people died from antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections in 2019. And climate change is worsening this threat. For example, increased rainfall, heat and humidity can accelerate the spread of diseases worldwide. This increases the likelihood that pathogens will evolve and become resistant to medicines. We need urgent, evidence-based action to tackle these connected crises. Learn more ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/dgJPpkD3

Lived experience is essential to understand the history of mental health. This was a key lesson from the History of Causes project, a timeline tracing 200 years of ideas about the causes of mental health problems. Lived experience experts were consulted at every stage of the project – from informing the timeline’s content to identifying gaps for future research. They were also key to developing a global perspective for future iterations “Being lived experience experts not based in the UK or the US, we were able to bring in perspectives of mental health and mental illness, that we had seen in our own experiences and feed that into the narrative,” says Meghna Khatwani, a Lived Experience Adviser at Wellcome based in New Delhi. Find out more about the project: https://lnkd.in/ebigpYkz

Why is it important to include humanities in climate and health research? Dr Chris Pearson is leading a research project exploring how Londoners, New Yorkers and Parisians have thought and felt about heat and its impact on their health since 1945. The project, called ‘Melting Metropolis’, is supported by a Wellcome Discovery Award and brings a humanities perspective to the urgent challenge of protecting our health on a warming planet. ”We've known about the science of climate change for decades now,” says Chris, “but we haven't started to challenge or critique sufficiently the political, economic and cultural structures that maintain the climate crisis.” Humanities research gives us the tools to do this. Find out more ⤵️

We’re funding teams to develop digital interventions for anxiety, depression and psychosis. Successful teams must include researchers, lived experience experts and an organisation that can take the intervention to scale. 🗓 Deadline: 5 December Find out more 👇 https://lnkd.in/eWRQye-H

Last summer more than 47,000 people died in Europe due to extreme heat. It is Europe's second deadliest summer on record for heat-related deaths. Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world, warming at twice the global average. But what can we do about it? Improved public health measures and socioeconomic progress are already helping decrease heat vulnerability and mortality. Without recent progress in these areas, the death toll could have been 80 per cent higher, exceeding 85,000. However, human physiology and societal structures can only take us so far. Learn about the effects of extreme heat and what we can do to help: https://lnkd.in/gPER7hri

Our food systems are able feed many people everywhere – but they are vulnerable to climate change. These systems rely heavily on crops from a few regions – like Russia, Ukraine and the US – that are exported worldwide. Often, the crops aren’t well adapted to the current (or future) climate where they are grown. What can we do to change this? “To strengthen our food systems, we must diversify crops and ensure our food can adapt to a changing climate,” says Ruth DeFries from the Columbia Climate School. Ruth and her team investigated a sustainable alternative to traditional crops like wheat, rice and corn – millets. They found millets – like pearl, finger and sorghum – offered better nutritional quality, were more climate resilient and produced less greenhouse gas emissions. Learn more about climate-resilient crops from Ruth ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/dYyHuarw