The impact of climate change on health risks due to pathogens in the environment, specifically in our coastal waters is being investigated by this £8.7 million Horizon Europe project.
The BlueAdapt project has been developed by the University of Exeter’s European Centre for Environment and Human Health and is led by the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3). The BlueAdapt project involves 12 institutes from across 10 countries in Europe, bringing together an interdisciplinary team of researchers including microbiologists, epidemiologists, economists, climate scientists and policy specialists.
The project focuses on a wide range of pathogens including antimicrobial resistant bacterial pathogens which are becoming increasingly hard to treat with antimicrobial drugs commonly known as antibiotics.
The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated that there is need for a much better understanding of environmental pathogens. The project will help future pandemic preparedness by identifying when and where pathogens may evolve and what the risk factors for environmental transmission to humans are.
Dr Tim Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Environmental and Public Health Economics at the University of Exeter’s European Centre for Environment and Human Health conceived the bid.
Through a series of case studies, BlueAdapt will focus in on change in different areas of Europe and look at different options for responding to these emerging threats.
Professor Will Gaze who leads the Environmental Dimension of Antimicrobial Resistance research unit at the University of Exeter’s European Centre for Environment and Human Health is leading on Antimicrobial Resistance.
With partners including those at Bangor University in Wales and the University of Galway in Ireland the aim is to use a combination of experimental evolution and sophisticated modelling approaches to better understand the effects of climate change on risks posed by pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in the environment.
The aim of BlueAdapt is to be able to improve the understanding on how bacteria and viruses in coastal zones will respond to changes in our climate and how this in turn may impact the health of the European population. The team will investigate policy responses, including early warning systems, and estimate expected benefits of adaptation actions
BlueAdapt runs from 2022 to 2026 and is funded under European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 101057764 and by UKRI/HM Government.