Impacts of Extreme Weather Events on Health and Health Systems

Dr. Tess Wiskel is a practicing emergency physician and an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her work focuses on addressing the health impacts of extreme weather events in at-risk populations and improving health system climate resilience.  

She has collaborated with the US Department of Health and Human Services as well as the nonprofit relief organization Americares to develop tools to improve the climate resilience of health systems. She served as a Harvard Global Health Institute Burke Research Fellow investigating occupational heat stress and health impacts and has co-directed courses and taught nationally and internationally on extreme weather and health impacts.  

Dr. Wiskel received her medical degree from the University of Chicago, completed Emergency Medicine Residency at Brown University, and underwent specialized training with a Climate and Health Fellowship and Master of Public Health at Harvard University.

Learning objectives:

1. Understand the escalating impacts of extreme weather events on individual health and health systems.
2. Describe the specific impacts of extreme weather on child and reproductive health. 
3. Identify tools and strategies to build climate resilient health systems.