John Openshaw

John Openshaw is an infectious disease physician, medical epidemiologist, and public and global health researcher. His main academic interest is in the interplay between the environment and health. His work is focused on developing new and creative ways to detect, measure, and mitigate infectious disease threats and improving health outcomes in low resource areas.

2025–2026 Academic Year | Junior Faculty Research Grant

Development, Validation, Application, and Dissemination of a Free and Open-Source Heat Exposure and Heat-Specific Health Effects

The number of people exposed to extreme heat is growing exponentially. The urban poor, who lack the resources to adapt to extreme heat, represent a growing group at high risk for mortality and morbidity. Solutions are urgently needed but impoverished urban communities lack the ability to assess risk for their populations, evaluate the health risk of increasing heat exposure, and evaluate innovations that might mitigate heat exposure. Here we propose developing a free and open-source approach to urban-scale heat exposure modeling and then leveraging data from our field research site on extreme heat interventions in Indonesia to demonstrate applicability.