What We Built Together in 2025 - Thank you, NCWG
I can hardly believe we are at the end of the year, and what an extraordinary year it has been for our Neuro Climate Working Group! Our final monthly meeting of 2025 felt especially meaningful: a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come together and to feel excited about where we’re headed next.
A heartfelt thank you to the South and South East Asian Neuro Climate Group, our first regional group, for such a powerful and inspiring session. Their insights and call to action on the impacts of climate change and air pollution on brain health in the region truly exemplify the power of cross-country collaboration. Many thanks as well to Drs. Robbie Parks and Angie Michaiel for sharing reflections from COP30 and the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting. You can find the slides linked and attached, and the meeting recording is available here.
We were also thrilled to announce Brain CLIMA, our first joint NCWG research project, supported by the Wellcome Trust. This exciting collaboration will investigate the combined impacts of heat and air pollution on blood–brain barrier integrity and brain aging in Latin America, and will be led by Drs. Diane Re, Josefina Cruzat, Claudia Aniotz, Agustin Ibanez, Robbie Parks, Marianthi Kioumourtzoglou, Emma Lawrance, and I.
As we close the year, it’s worth pausing to appreciate just how much this community has achieved together:
We grew remarkably.
Last December, we celebrated reaching 100 members. This December, we are celebrating over 300 members from 52 countries and 20 disciplines, including neuroscience, psychiatry, pediatrics, and public health, as well as environmental science, architecture, design, and policy. A truly global and multidisciplinary community.
We expanded the science.
Over 30 members co-authored our state-of-the-science report synthesizing the most robust and up-to-date evidence on how six climate-related factors, heat, air pollution, extreme weather events, vector-borne diseases, food insecurity and malnutrition, and water/soil contamination, affect brain health. The report will be available in the first half of 2026 and has already informed work at organizations such as the WHO and the Planetary Health Alliance (PHA).
In parallel, we contributed to 10+ peer-reviewed publications, launched new global science initiatives, and joined member-led projects, including ClicBrain (led by Dr. Agustin Ibanez) and Hot Cognition ManyLabs (led by Dr. Kim Doell).
We raised awareness on global stages.
Our work reached hundreds through presentations at the WHO conferences, COP and UNGA side events, climate and health forums, and the Planetary Health Alliance global meeting, helping place brain health within worldwide climate and global health conversations.
We helped integrate brain health into policy.
Brain health was included for the first time in the State of Global Air 2025 report, marking an important step toward climate policies that reflect the realities of neurological and mental health. Many thanks to Dr. Pallavi Pant and the Health Effects Institute for enabling this collaboration.
We supported environmental justice.
Research led by Drs. Yoko Nomura, Jyoti Mishra, and Frederica Perera, alongside an op-ed co-written with Clayton Aldern, helped catalyze collaborations with environmental justice organizations in the US to support wildfire-impacted communities and protect brain health.
We invested in the next generation.
We launched our Youth Council, led by Dr. Angie Michaiel, to elevate the voices of future leaders and provide a platform for connection in this space.
We were recognized globally and strengthened partnerships.
NCWG was named one of the top five global organizations working on climate change and mental health by the World Economic Forum, and our work was featured by The Guardian, Bloomberg, and Psychology Today. We also deepened collaborations with the WHO, PHA, the Latin American Brain Health Institute, Wellcome Trust, the Climate Psychology Alliance, the Climate Mental Health Network, and many others.
But above all else…
We built a community.
A community that is collaborative, kind, generous, passionate, diverse, and mission-driven, united by a shared commitment to understanding and addressing the brain health impacts of climate change and ecological crises, and to changing the world for the better.
I am very grateful for your continued support, passion, and dedication. This work would not be possible without each of you, and our journey is only just beginning.
Looking ahead, our next monthly meeting will be on Monday, January 12th, at 12:00 pm PT, where we will hear from Dr. Kelton Minor, Associate Professor of Planetary Behavioral Data Science at the University of Copenhagen. He will share his work on how rising temperatures affect sleep, mental health, and behavior, and discuss approaches to developing brain health indicators for the Lancet Countdown.
Wishing you a restful holiday season and a hopeful, energizing start to the new year. I look forward to continuing this work together in 2026.
Warm regards,
Burcin
Interested in joining our group? Please register here.