Research projects

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Disentangling the effects of extreme heat and cold waves on health outcomes in people with multimorbidity

Supervisor: Dr Carlos Celis

Project Description

Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme heat and cold waves, posing a major threat to population health. Exposure to temperature extremes has been consistently associated with higher risks of mortality, cardiovascular and respiratory events, and hospital admissions. However, little is known about how these effects differ in people living with multimorbidity, a rapidly growing and particularly vulnerable population.

This PhD project aims to disentangle the effects of extreme heat and cold exposure on health outcomes in people with multimorbidity, using a combination of population-based data analysis and controlled experimental approaches. The project will analyse large-scale longitudinal and routinely collected health datasets linked to high-resolution environmental data to quantify associations between heat and cold waves and adverse health outcomes, and to assess whether the number, type, and clustering of chronic conditions modify vulnerability to temperature extremes.

To complement observational analyses, the project will also include intervention studies conducted in an environmental chamber, where controlled exposure to heat and cold conditions will be used to examine acute physiological responses in individuals with multimorbidity. These experiments will provide mechanistic insight into thermoregulatory, cardiovascular, and metabolic responses that cannot be captured through observational data alone.

Advanced epidemiological and statistical methods will be applied, including survival analyses and distributed lag models. Findings from this project will inform clinical risk stratification, public health preparedness, and climate adaptation strategies, helping to protect vulnerable populations as climate-related temperature extremes become more common.

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Overview

Our research strives to understand the pathways and processes linking obesity and physical inactivity to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in order to develop better strategies to prevent and treat obesity, and alleviate its metabolic and vascular complications. We use this knowledge both to develop new cardiovascular therapies and target existing ones more effectively

Our collective expertise spans molecular and biomarker/ “-omic” techniques through clinical investigation to population-level epidemiology, clinical trials and cardiovascular endpoint adjudication. 

We are leading in establishing disease-specific bioresources linked with routinely-acquired anonymised data from the National Health Service in Scotland. Our renal research theme is developing strategies to reduce this risk and improve outcomes for patients with chronic kidney disease. 

Research topics include:

• Corticosteroid Hormones in CVD
• Cardiovascular effects of metformin
• Cardiovascular Effects of Pre-eclampsia
• Diabetes Epidemiology
• Glasgow Biomarker Laboratory
• Lifestyle & Obesity
• Metabolic health in pregnancy
• Proteomics of diabetic nephropathy
• Vascular Function in Pregnancy

Study options

PhD

• Duration: 3/4 years full-time; 5 years part-time

Individual research projects are tailored around the expertise of principal investigators.

MSc (Research)

• Duration: 1 year full-time; 2 years part-time

MD (Doctor of Medicine)

• Duration: 2 years full-time; 4 years part-time (for medically-qualified graduates only)