June 24, 2024
San Francisco, CA (Highpoint Digest) − Researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the University of Southern California are working with AccuWeather experts to leverage air pollution, UV index, humidity and other critical environmental information from the AccuWeather Data Suite on Databricks, aiming to revolutionize children’s healthcare in California, the US, and beyond.
“Environmental data is a critical accelerator for climate solutions, particularly when it comes to air pollution and health,” said Tyler Knowlton, head of AccuWeather’s Climate Impact Program. “Solving complex problems requires a shared understanding and that starts with solid data.”
Air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risks to health. The good news is that we can take intentional, scientific, and evidence-based approaches to reducing the adverse impact of the environment on health. According to the World Health Organization, “by reducing air pollution levels, countries can reduce the burden of disease from stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma.”
Children are the most vulnerable. By integrating AccuWeather’s high-resolution data on air quality and other environmental determinants of health with electronic health records, researchers can address critical questions about the impact of environmental exposures on children. The result has led to new and innovative opportunities to identify and reduce the impact of environmental exposures on children across a pediatric health system.
“We have made incredible progress connecting environmental determinants of health with all of our patient records at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. For the first time, we can now understand how environmental exposures impact our children across an entire pediatric health system. This unlocks our ability to better understand disparities in exposures and health as well as find opportunities to intervene and reduce the risks of the environment on the health of our children,”said Jonathan M. Tan, MD, MPH, MBI, FASA, pediatric anesthesiologist, Vice Chair of Analytics and Clinical Effectiveness at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Assistant Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology and Spatial Sciences at the University of Southern California.“This is just the beginning. Environmental exposures, including extreme weather and climate change, directly impact the health and safety of our children. We’re working with our partners at AccuWeather to scale our innovative work to the rest of the country and make the leap from describing problems to prescribing solutions.”
Dr. Tan’s groundbreaking research on the impact of the environment, including air quality, extreme weather and climate change, on children’s health uniquely brings together the science of medicine, environmental health, spatial science, data science, and patient safety. His work at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has demonstrated that large disparities in environmental exposure exist across the entire children’s hospital and contribute to health disparities and outcomes among pediatric patients.
By analyzing clinical data and environmental data from AccuWeather, Dr. Tan’s research team has identified key patterns and risks for children, leading to the opportunity to target interventions, resources, and advocacy efforts to improve the health of children in the community. This pioneering work underscores the commitment of Dr. Tan, the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and AccuWeather to safeguard the well-being and health of the next generation amidst growing environmental challenges.
AccuWeather’s Climate Impact Program connects researchers, journalists, and community advocates to environmental data with the goal of accelerating climate solutions by advancing education and awareness, deepening research and understanding, and fostering action. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is one of AccuWeather’s key flagship program partners working on health and air quality alongside the Fred Hutch Cancer Center and the University of Chicago’s Air Quality Life Index.
Accuweather’s rich datasets are also available on the Databricks Marketplace including historical, forecast, and demand forecasting weather data.
Source: AccuWeather
Image courtesy of AccuWeather
