PhD title: Environmental and personal determinants of heat-related health risks

Start date: October 2026

Supervisors

• Imperial: Dr Elizaveta Semenova (primary supervisor)
• Imperial: Prof Marc Chadeau-Hyam
• UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA): Prof Andrew Hayward
• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM): Prof Antonio Gasparrini

PhD project description
Extreme heat increasingly threatens population health, but vulnerability to heat-related illness and mortality vary depending on environmental and individual characteristics.

This PhD will investigate how the combined exposome, spanning environmental and individual factors, modifies the health effects of extreme heat. Using UK Biobank data linked with high-resolution exposure maps from the EXPANSE project, the student will examine how features such as green space, air pollution, urban density, and personal health profiles, behaviours, and medical histories shape heat-related risks. Outcomes will include mortality, hospitalisations for cardiovascular and respiratory disease, and mental-health impacts during UKHSA-defined heat periods. Advanced statistical models will quantify how environmental and personal domains jointly drive vulnerability.

Complementary analyses may also explore how household factors such as damp and mould interact with heat exposure, using data from the English Housing Survey and related health datasets.

This work will generate evidence to inform heat-health adaptation and equitable climate resilience. The student will develop expertise in environmental epidemiology, large-scale data analysis, and exposome modelling in collaboration with Imperial College London, UKHSA, and LSHTM.

The PhD programme
This studentship is one of 11 funded by the NIHR funded Health Analytics and Modelling (HAM) Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) (HAM-HPRU), a partnership between Imperial, LSHTM, and the UKHSA. The HPRU offers a world-class environment for research in quantitative epidemiology and modelling, with close links across institutions and access to diverse datasets. The student will be based at Imperial, with opportunities for collaboration and short placements at UKHSA. They will join a vibrant doctoral cohort engaged in shared training, seminars, and research exchange.

Eligibility criteria

• Applicants must be eligible for home fees
  = Applicants must hold, or expect to obtain before the PhD, a relevant Master’s degree awarded with good grades. Relevant degrees should demonstrate an aptitude for mathematics, such as pure maths, economics, epidemiology or another quantitative subject. Applicants with a combination of qualifications and experience demonstrating equivalent ability and attainment will also be considered.
• The position is based at Imperial’s White City Campus, with on-site presence expected in line with hybrid-working policies.

Application next steps:

• Please complete the online application form by 18 January 2026.
• For queries, contact Dr Elizaveta Semenova (e.semenova@imperial.ac.uk).
• Interviews are expected to take place in February 2026.