Dr. Renee N. Salas is Affiliated Faculty at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a previous Yerby Fellow. She is also Affiliated Faculty and previous Burke Fellow at the Harvard Global Health Institute and Affiliated Faculty at the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is an emergency medicine physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Salas leads endeavors with the world’s top general medical journals. She spearheads The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) Group’s Climate Crisis and Clinical Practice Initiative and serves as a guest editor for the NEJM Group series entitled “Fossil-fuel Pollution and Climate Change.” She was the lead author of the cornerstone Interactive Perspective for The New England Journal of Medicine that launched the journal’s climate crisis and health topic page and continues to contribute content. Dr. Salas is also a member of the global Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, serving as the lead author of the Lancet Countdown Brief for the United States between 2018 to 2021 – moving to senior author in 2022 – and founded and leads its U.S. Working Group of over 80 U.S. organizations.
Dr. Salas was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) in 2021 for her work on climate change and health, an honorific society that is considered one of the highest honors in the field of health and medicine. She served on the original planning committee for the NAM’s Grand Challenge on Health and Climate Change and continues to serve on committees related to this work. She has testified before Congress for the full House Committee on Oversight and Reform on how climate change is harming health.
Dr. Salas lectures and serves on committees at the nexus of climate and health internationally and nationally, advises and publishes in high-impact journals, and her work and expertise are regularly featured in mainstream media outlets like the New York Times, NPR, Time, and the Associated Press. She engages in research on how climate change is impacting the healthcare system and developing evidence-based adaptation. She also strives to engage across a diverse range of sectors, and frequently speaks at high-level engagements. Her work also spans disciplines, such as collaborations on Amicus Briefs for Juliana v. United States and a response letter to the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed transparency rule.
She is the founder and past Chair of the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Climate Change and Health Interest Group and founded and led their first pre-conference workshop on the topic. She gave the first national emergency medicine conference presentations on climate change and health at the SAEM and American College of Emergency Physicians annual meetings.
Dr. Salas has been the recipient of a range of honors and awards, such as the national SAEM Public Health Leadership Award and the Network for Excellent in Health Innovation Innovator in Health Award. She is also the recipient of the Clinician-Teacher Development Award from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Shore Fellowship from Harvard Medical School.
Her Doctor of Medicine is from the innovative five-year medical school program to train physician-investigators at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine with a Master of Science in Clinical Research from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Both institutions later awarded her with Early Career Leadership Awards for her outstanding career achievements. Her Master of Public Health is from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health with a concentration in environmental health. Dr. Salas received her undergraduate degree from Saint Mary’s College, which later recognized her as a prestigious Shannon Scholar for exceptional alumna.
The Surprising Ways Climate Change Is Already Affecting Our Health
The health impacts of climate change are like an iceberg—many connections are hiding underneath the surface.
Climate change and health care with Drs. Caren Solomon and Renee Salas
ClimateMD Leader Dr. Renee Salas talks about the unique role doctors can play to educate their patients about climate change, and the opportunity to advocate for climate solutions.
What we can learn from COVID-19 for the climate crisis
CNN's Bill Weir explores what we can learn from COVID-19 to better prepare for the impact of the climate crisis, with insight from our ClimateMD Leader Dr. Renee Salas.
Enough hiding: It's time we see the faces of climate change
Doctors have long warned that climate change would harm public health. Now, we are seeing a growing nexus between climate and health impacts, just as the experts have warned.
Rich Americans spew more carbon pollution at home than poor
Rich Americans produce nearly 25% more heat-trapping gases than poorer people at home, according to a new study.
The climate crisis and COVID-19—A major threat to the pandemic response
Strategies for local communities and states to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission during climate-related extreme events like heat waves, hurricanes, and wildfires.
Summer heat waves threaten those most at risk from COVID
In the age of social distancing, heatwaves and COVID-19 present a dangerous situation for many.
Furloughs, retirement cuts and less pay hit Mass. doctors and nurses as COVID-19 spreads
As coronavirus cases increase, health care workers begin to feel more anxiety.
On the hospital front lines, conquering fear and finding hope
Our ClimateMD Leader and ER Doc Renee Salas on how she finds hope in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Climate in the Clinic
Clinicians gathered for our Climate Crisis and Clinical Practice Symposium to learn about the impacts of climate change on health care delivery.
