As temperatures soar to unprecedented levels, the pressing need to safeguard vulnerable populations from the dangers of extreme heat becomes ever more critical. To address this urgent issue, the University of Arizona has launched the Heat and Health Resilience Innovation Consortium, a collaborative initiative aimed at protecting those most at risk.
This consortium unites the expertise of University of Arizona faculty and external partners to tackle the challenges posed by living in extreme heat conditions.
“Maricopa County has the hottest temperatures and most heat-related deaths in the United States. In Arizona and across the country, we’ve seen a major increase in the number of deaths and heat-related illness,” said Dr. Amelia Gallitano, professor of basic medical sciences at the College of Medicine – Phoenix.
Dr. Gallitano warns of the catastrophic consequences of extreme heat, particularly if combined with a power outage similar to the recent 16-hour blackout in Portugal and Spain. Such an event in a region like Arizona could result in tens of thousands of deaths within days and overwhelm medical facilities.
“A statewide power outage, like one on the scale that happened recently in Portugal, could result in 71,000 deaths in the state in a matter of days, and more than 50% of the population would need to seek medical treatment,” noted Gallitano from the BIO5 Institute. “We don’t have the capacity for that, so we need to start making plans and drastically increase mitigation strategies.”
Co-leading the consortium with Dr. Gallitano is Dr. Freya Spielberg, who serves as a clinical professor and vice chair for research in the department of family, community, and preventive medicine at the College of Medicine – Phoenix. Their collaborative efforts aim to create a protective ecosystem for vulnerable populations in Arizona.
“Our goal is to be facilitators of research for any kind of innovation in this space and to have the kind of networks that we need to partner with to bring the innovations right to where they’re needed most,” Spielberg stated. “Heat is now becoming not just a Phoenix problem or even a U.S. problem, it’s a worldwide problem. These are challenges that are going to need to be addressed with new innovations.”
Collaborating for Big Impact
Supported by the U of A Office of Research and Partnership’s Big Idea Challenge, the consortium is among six teams accelerating transdisciplinary projects to address societal challenges. This initiative aims to transform lives, shape policy, and drive economic impact.
“The Big Idea Challenge was designed to empower transdisciplinary teams to confront some of the most complex and daunting challenges we face as a society. In taking on the health threats posed by extreme heat, the Heat and Health Resilience Consortium does exactly that,” said Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, senior vice president for research and partnerships at the U of A.
The consortium collaborates with organizations like the Southwest Center on Resilience for Climate Change and Health and the Climate Assessment for the Southwest to address extreme heat’s health impacts.
“This is such a big problem that you really do need perspectives from a lot of different disciplines to design interventions that, together, will impact heat-related deaths,” Spielberg remarked. “We have people from architecture that are working on structural interventions. We have people from engineering that are working on wearables. We have people from public health and medicine working on health system changes.”
Two initial projects take center stage: wearable devices and cooling kiosks. Wearable technology is being developed to monitor vital signs and detect heat-related illnesses, with plans for an arm band that alerts users and medical professionals via an app.
“Heat is now becoming not just a Phoenix problem or even a U.S. problem, it’s a worldwide problem.” – Dr. Amelia Gallitano
Furthermore, artificial intelligence will analyze electronic health records from Banner Health to create a Heat Susceptibility Score, identifying individuals at the highest risk from extreme heat.
The second initiative involves establishing cooling kiosks equipped with sun shelters, telemedicine capabilities, and vending machines providing heat prevention items.
“A community health worker could identify an individual who has unmet health care needs that put them at higher risk of heat-related illness and bring them to the kiosk, where they could go through a holistic assessment,” Gallitano explained.
In light of the statistic that about half of the people who died from extreme heat in Arizona in 2023 and 2024 were homeless, Spielberg emphasizes the importance of accessible preventive care to avoid hospitalizations.
The consortium’s efforts include developing educational resources and training curricula for medical and public health students to address heat-driven medical issues.
Designed to be self-sustaining, the consortium will identify strategic focus areas, allocate funds, and apply for additional funding to advance projects. In collaboration with Tech Launch Arizona, plans are in place to commercialize technologies like wearables and cooling kiosks.
“We want to make Arizona the incubator for the testing of health technologies to address the health consequences of extreme heat,” Spielberg added.
A version of this article appeared on the Office of Research and Partnerships website.
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