Health Impacts of Wildfire Smoke in the San Francisco Bay Area

In April 2023, Dr. Neeta Thakur, in partnership with the UC Center for Climate, Health and Equity, received funding from the University of California, Office of the President to research the health impacts of wildfire smoke to support emergency preparation and response, and climate adaptation planning in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The project aims to:

• Use machine learning to identify populations most at risk of health issues from wildfire smoke.
• Explore the challenges and enablers of adopting strategies to reduce wildfire smoke-related health risks.
• Assess how effective current wildfire smoke mitigation strategies are in protecting health.
• Integrate findings into local emergency planning and community health response efforts.

Dr. Thakur and her research team have identified organizations working on wildfire smoke and health across nine Bay Area counties, and are surveying these organizations to understand the populations they serve and the actions they are taking to address wildfire smoke-related health issues.