Published study protocol
Heat to Harvest ↗
Coauthor of the published Heat to Harvest study protocol
Investigating the pathway from heat exposure to farmer health, work capacity, crop yields and nutrition.
Role / research source ↗Network contributor · Germany
Prof Rainer Sauerborn
Senior Professor of Climate Change and Health
Heidelberg University · Heidelberg Institute of Global Health
Climate change & healthFood security & nutritionHealth policy & education
Scientific background & experience
Biography
Climate and population health
Rainer Sauerborn is Senior Professor of Climate Change and Health at Heidelberg University. His work examines how climate-related pressures interact with health, livelihoods and the conditions in which people live. Food security and child undernutrition are central themes in his research, including studies that connect agricultural production, household circumstances and population-health observations in Burkina Faso. 2, 3, 5
Clinical and public-health background
Trained as a physician, Sauerborn worked as a district medical officer in Nouna in the early 1980s, beginning a long association with research partners in Burkina Faso. His postgraduate training includes public health and a doctorate in public health at Harvard. He subsequently led Heidelberg’s public-health and global-health institute until 2016, before continuing in a senior professorship focused on climate and health. 2, 3
Connections across disciplines
Sauerborn is a coauthor of the CHEERS framework, which describes the integration of environmental and individual measurements into established population surveillance. He also coauthored the Heat to Harvest protocol linking heat exposure, farmers’ physiological strain, work, harvests and nutrition. Alongside research, his documented activities include climate-health teaching and online education, connecting evidence from local populations with wider scientific and policy discussions. 1, 6, 3
Projects & research connections
Projects and research contributions
Scientific network connection
CHEERS scientific framework ↗
Coauthor of the 2023 CHEERS framework publication
Contribution source ↗Connected research settings
Heidelberg ↗Authored publications
Selected publications
These selected papers list Prof Rainer Sauerborn as an author. Labels distinguish the CHEERS and connected-research library from selected wider scholarship.
2023Authored publication · Reviewed collectionMethods
Widening the lens of population-based health research to climate change impacts and adaptation: the climate change and health evaluation and response system (CHEERS) ↗
Introduces the modular CHEERS framework linking population surveillance, environmental measurements and individual health data.
2025Authored publication · Reviewed collectionStudy protocol
Assessing heat exposure and its effects on farmer health, harvest yields, and nutrition: a study protocol for Burkina Faso and Kenya ↗
Heat to Harvest studies the pathway from heat exposure through work capacity and crop yields to child nutrition.
2025Authored publication · Reviewed collectionObservational study
Physical effort during labour and behavioural adaptations in response to heat stress among subsistence farmers in Burkina Faso: a gender-specific longitudinal observational study ↗
Examines gender-specific physical effort and behavioral adaptation among subsistence farmers exposed to heat.
2026Authored publication · Reviewed collectionReview
Mapping the global health burden of climate-sensitive exposures: a systematic scoping review ↗
Maps evidence on the burden of climate-sensitive exposures and highlights gaps for surveillance and adaptation planning.
2019Authored publication · Reviewed collectionCommentary
Lessons learned on teaching a global audience with massive open online courses (MOOCs) on health impacts of climate change: a commentary ↗
Reflects on experience with open online courses about the health impacts of climate change.
View 13 authored publications in the website library ↗
This is a selected research bibliography. The institutional profile provides further information about the researcher’s work.
Profile references
Sources and updates
- Published research ↗
- Institutional profile ↗
- Supporting source 3 ↗
- Supporting source 4 ↗
- Supporting source 5 ↗
- Published research ↗
Profile reviewed 12 November 2026. Suggest an update ↗
Network resources & exchange