Joshua R Wortzel, MD, MPhil, MS

The WHO considers climate change the number one public health threat of this century. Atmospheric heat during heat waves and seasonally is associated with higher suicide rates and psychiatric hospitalizations. Youth have trouble thermoregulating during heat stress relative to adults, and depressed patients have baseline thermodysregulation, making depressed youth especially vulnerable. While ambient temperature and suicidality appear linked, the etiology is unclear. Dr. Wortzel's research focuses on studying mechanisms by which temperature may be impacting mental health. His prior research has focused on epidemiological association studies of temperature and suicide and other mental health outcomes. He is currently developing research to prospectively measure the association of experienced ambient temperature using wearable devices with fluctuations in mood as measured my ecological momentary assessment. His plan is to explore etiological underpinnings of this association, including temperature's impact on sleep-wake disturbances and physical activity. Future areas of investigation will including looking at the impact of temperature on neurotransmitter levels and neuronal functional connectivity. In addition to research on temperature and affect, he studies the carbon footprint of psychiatric practice and strategies to reduce it and the impact that distress about climate change has on the mental health of young people. The latter uses a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods. He also has a background in medical education and am involved with building educational content for psychiatry training and testing the effectiveness of these materials.