Human and Environmental Physiology Research unit (HEPRU)
 Glen Kenny |
Assessing the potential impact of extreme climate events on the health and well-being of Canadians, and in particular the Canadian workforce, is a new and growing challenge. With the creation of the Human and Environmental Physiology Research Unit (HEPRU), Professor and University of Ottawa (Faculty of Health Sciences) Research Chair Dr. Glen Kenny, along with Assistant Professor Dr. Oliver Jay and in collaboration with their national and international research partners, will be poised to deliver real results by creating the capacity to undertake experiments under ‘real-life’ conditions.
With the support of the Canada Foundation for Innovation Leaders Opportunity Fund, the operational capacity of the world’s only functional human air calorimeter (located at the University of Ottawa) will be increased, allowing the researchers the unprecedented ability to measure heat exchange of the human body with the environment in a wide range of simulated climatic conditions.
The installation of a high-precision environmental control system, as well as a sophisticated physiological monitoring system, will enable these innovative investigators to study a range of populations exposed to extreme environments.
 Ollie Jay |
Both in the laboratory and in the field, thus accelerating their already high pace of research productivity, this timely infrastructure will provide this research team with the unprecedented capacity and resources needed to develop made-in-Canada solutions to tackle the health-related issues associated with extreme climate events/heat exposure on the health and well-being of Canadians.
